If Thomas Tuchel is to become the first foreign manager to win the World Cup, he has a small window in which to do so.England’s tournament starts late. If they last the distance, it is shorter than any of the other world’s top-10 ranked teams.There are 32 days from their opening Group L game against Croatia in Arlington, Texas, on Wednesday until the final on July 19. Meanwhile, Brazil kicked off on June 13, Germany and the Netherlands the following day.It sounds like a significant disadvantage. Less time to recover. Less time to train. Less time to travel a potential 12,418 miles from their base in Kansas City, Mo. (specifically chosen for its central location) to all of their matches and back, across a vast tournament which encompasses three host nations.Yet the schedule — and history — suggest England are not on the back foot as much as you might think. The U.S., Mexico and Canada, the hosts who opened the competition last Friday and Saturday, should not actually have a significant advantage…What is England’s situation?England — and the seven other nations playing on Wednesday — are the last sides to get their campaigns underway. They do so six days after Mexico and South Africa brought the curtain down on the World Cup in a flurry of cards at the Azteca Stadium.Given the expanded nature of this 48-team, 104-game tournament, no team has had to wait longer to play.Since 1970, only Spain in 2010 have won the World Cup after playing their opener on the latest day possible.Spain celebrate winning the World Cup in 2010 (Clive Rose/Getty Images)“Our players will be tired after a long season,” Tuchel said at his squad announcement.Starting last has allowed fatigue to be overcome, friendlies to be spaced out and the late-arriving Arsenal players (Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke) to be fully integrated. Even Trevoh Chalobah won’t miss too much.Once they get going, the rest period between games is comparable to that of other teams.England’s group-stage campaign encompasses 11 days. A six-day wait follows their opener before meeting Ghana at Gillette Stadium, Foxboro, Mass.. They play Panama at MetLife Stadium, New Jersey, four days later on June 27.Aside from groups containing host nations, the other nine groups conclude within a 10- or 11-day period. Working on the basis the groups play out according to FIFA’s world rankings, England finish top and head to Atlanta in the last 32, four days after the Panama game.Should they make it to the final, they would then have breaks of four, five, three and three days between their knockout games.Other group winners would consistently have three to four days of rest on the road to the final at MetLife Stadium, with England and their potential quarter-final opponents the only sides to have a five-day gap between matches after the round of 16.The past two World Cup winners — France and Argentina — had five-day rest periods in the later knockout stages, whereas their eventual beaten finalists (Croatia and France) did not.How does that compare to the host nations’ schedules?The teams in Mexico’s Group A have an early advantage, with 13 days from their opening games to their final group-stage matches. The U.S. also has a 13-day gap and Canada has 12 days.Should Canada and the USMNT finish in the top two, they would benefit from gaps of up to seven days between their final group game and first knockout tie, or their first and second knockout matches.Thereafter, rest days are condensed to three to four days between fixtures, mirroring most other teams in the tournament, as extra rest days are repeatedly redistributed throughout the knockout phase.What does history tell us?Two contrasting conclusions can be drawn.Only once in the past seven tournaments has the winning side begun their campaign earlier than their final opponents (Italy 2006). Four eventual winners have started later, with two beginning on the same day.