England are considering playing their final World Cup warm-up game at Leeds’ 37,890-capacity Elland Road ground. Manager Gareth Southgate wants to play two matches, against as yet unnamed opposition, as final preparation for the summer tournament in Russia.
The first will be at Wembley but the second is set to be played away from the national stadium. England last played at Elland Road in March 2002, when they were beaten 2-1 in a friendly by Italy. They also drew 3-3 against Sweden there in June 1995 and the stadium was used for three group matches at Euro 96.
Friendly matches against Netherlands in Amsterdam and Italy at Wembley have already been arranged for 23 March and 27 March respectively. England’s Russia 2018 campaign begins against Tunisia on Monday, 18 June (19:00 BST) in Volgograd. They will then face World Cup debutants Panama in Nizhny Novgorod on 24 June (13:00 BST) before playing Belgium four days later in Kaliningrad
