"It's not looking promising - I'll be delighted if we get out of the group stages."
Mr Tunnicliffe has had Sky TV installed so he can make the most of the World Cup.
He said it would be huge back in his home country. "It captures Britain like nothing you can imagine - you drive down the street and you will see flags in every single window.
"Absolutely everyone becomes a football expert.
"I'll be telling them exactly what they've done wrong and exactly what they should be doing, as if I know it all."
Of the England team, he said: "I'm hoping with some of the younger fullas coming through, we'll surprise a few teams.
"After all of that I'll tell you this ... I think we're going to win it. Once you get captured and the World Cup takes hold, I'm going to expect England to win every single game - and there may be a few tears if we don't."
Come Sunday morning when England take the pitch against Italy, he'll be watching with his mate, Shane Drury, in a house full of English in-laws who are in the country for a few weeks.
"You could say we've shipped babysitters all the way from the UK."
He rates Brazil as the favourite and Belgium as the long shot.
