A team given little chance of qualification in a group containing England and Croatia at the start of the campaign, Russia have proved their critics wrong to a degree by proving tough to beat, and gaining a great deal of credibility by emerging form both games against the Croats with a point.

Coach Guus Hiddink has one of the best records in international football and has shown with the Netherlands, South Korea and Australia that he can often get more than people expect from his squads.

Two points off the lead and a point ahead of England, the back-to-back matches against the English and a tricky tie away to Israel in November will decide whether the Russian players will be competing for the European title next summer or watching the matches on television.