World Cup 2014: England have a chance to win the Unofficial World Cup against champions Costa Rica

Not all doom and gloom for the Three Lions in final World Cup game

Daniel Sturridge of England (C) celebrates scoring his team's first goal with Wayne Rooney (L), Raheem Sterling (2nd L), Jordan Henderson (2nd R) and Danny Welbeck (R) (Getty Images)

England have a chance to win something against Costa Rica tonight.

LIVE: Follow today's games, including England v Costa Rica, Italy v Uruguay and events in Group C

Not only will Roy Hodgson's team win their first game of the 2014 World Cup with a victory in Belo Horizonte, but they will take Costa Rica's crown as the Unofficial World Champions.

To win the title you have to beat the last champion. The history of the title dates all the way back to 1872 and the first international match between England and Scotland.

England became the first Unofficial World Champions after they beat Scotland 4-2 on 8 March, 1873 at Wembley (the first game the previous November ended as a draw).

The record has been continuously up for grabs since then, with every game the current champion plays acting as a title defence.

In recent years Spain have held the trophy before they lost to Argentina. The title then passed from Japan to North Korea (!), Sweden, back to Argentina and then Uruguay who entered the tournament as champions.

A shock 3-1 win in the opening group game gave Costa Rica the non-existent trophy, while another brilliant win against Italy allowed them to hold on.

A hat-trick of wins for the Central American minnows could be the icing on the cake, while England are looking to retain the trophy for the 74th time in their history, second only to Scotland.

It would be a rare bright light from a gloomy campaign.