England supporters are fearing defeat to Senegal on Sunday night due to the game being shown live on ITV and not the BBC.
Gareth Southgate's side recorded a 3-0 win against Wales on Tuesday night to finish top of Group B and reach the last 16 of the World Cup. Their opponents are African champions Senegal, who defeated Ecuador on the same day to finish second in Group A.
ITV has the UK rights to broadcast the game from the Al Bayt Stadium and some fans believe that's a bad omen, as the Three Lions have a poor record when games are shown on ITV.
Since 1998, England have won just two of their 15 World Cup games on ITV - a 13 per cent win rate. That includes Friday night's tedious goalless draw against the United States. In comparison, they've won 12 of their 16 fixtures on the BBC (75 per cent win rate).
BBC host Gary Lineker played on ITV's unfortunate statistic with a cheeky comment after England's win against Wales. "England finished top and will take on Senegal at 7pm on Sunday," he said. "And that's live on, well, uh, ITV. Oh well."
Yet it's important to stress this statistic is just from 1998, as England played in nine other World Cups before then. ITV also showed England's win against Colombia in the last 16 of the World Cup four years ago, which is a very good omen for Southgate's side.
Do you believe in the so-called "ITV hoodoo"? Let us know in the comments below!
Southgate and his players are unlikely to care about the so-called "ITV hoodoo" when they take to the pitch on Sunday night. England are among the favourites to win the World Cup and will be keen to keep their dream alive by beating a good Senegal side.
Senegal won the Africa Cup of Nations at the beginning of the year, but their talisman Sadio Mane is missing the tournament through injury. The Three Lions are expected to beat Senegal and set up a potential quarter-final clash with defending champions France.
England got over the line against Wales thanks to a stunning brace from Marcus Rashford and Phil Foden's strike. Both players started a game for the first time at the tournament and will be keen to remain part of the team thanks to their superb individual displays.
"We had complete control of the game in the first half but didn't create enough clear chances," Southgate told reporters at full-time. "We were a little bit out of balance and we thought we could reverse Marcus and Phil's sides. Players make those decisions work.
"Watching lots of games the big players have stepped up. And our forwards didn't do that in the first half but in the second half they really did. You need goals from all areas. It is a problem for opposition if the threat is coming from other areas of the pitch.
"It is competition for places and people have to deliver. You can see with his [Rashford's] club there have been happiness in his performances. We have a different version completely to the player we had in the Euros last summer."
