Roy Hodgson believes his World Cup experience in the USA from 1994 can only help when he takes England to this summer’s competition in Brazil.
The Three Lions boss led Switzerland to the World Cup 20 years ago and despite being considered as underdogs, they progressed out of the group stage and into the knock-out round.
And Hodgson still fondly recalls that competition and what it meant to the people of Switzerland during qualification and once the action began.
Hodgson during his time in charge of Switzerland in 1993
"The '94 World Cup was a great experience," he said.
"I think it was very new to us at the time, because Switzerland hadn't qualified for a tournament for 30 years since '62 in Chile and they hadn't expected to either.
"In that respect, we went into the tournament with people delighted and not expecting too much from us, so when we didn’t do that badly, we achieved hero status.
"But I remember the tournament very well, it was very well organised and it was very hot."
With England’s first match at this summer’s World Cup taking place in the Amazonian city of Manaus, it has been well-documented about the heat and humidity which Hodgson’s side will have to play in against Italy on 24 June.
But when recalling his American experience from '94, Hodgson says the conditions the Swiss faced were every bit as tough as anything Brazil might throw at England.
"Our first two games were played in Detroit at the Silverdome, which was actually indoors," he told members of the international media at Wembley Stadium earlier this week.
Watch our behind-the-scenes video of Hodgson speaking to the world's media
"They changed the plastic pitch for a grass pitch, which they wheeled into this massive dome where the Detroit Redwings normally played their matches.
"It was about 95 degrees Fahrenheit and 90 per cent humidity playing in there, not to mention the smell of the popcorn, hamburgers and hot dogs!
"So it was a very unusual experience and in our next game in Palo Alto, the temperature soared past 100 degrees in the bright sunlight.
"So we talk about Brazil and Manaus and how hot it's going to be there, but I remember America as being very hot in the matches that we played.
"The only one that was played in more reasonable conditions was the one in Washington, where it was more like a European summer."
With coaching jobs at clubs such as Inter Milan, Fulham, Liverpool and West Bromwich Albion, along with a spell in charge of Finland since then, Hodgson now has much more know-how under his belt.
And with the England back-room staff also carrying World Cup and tournament experience from the past, Hodgson believes the whole group heads to South America in good shape.
"In '94, all of us going to the World Cup, players, coaches, administrators, doctors and our physios, it was a really new experience taking Switzerland to a World Cup.
"That's not the case with England, because there is so much experience of tournament football around me so that makes my job as a coach so much easier."
Watch video footage of Hodgson talking about his World Cup experience from 1994 in the media player above.
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