简体中文
England will attempt to become world champions for the first time when they take on reigning champions Australia in the World Cup final on Saturday at 09:00 GMT.
It is live on BBC One with coverage starting at 08:30 GMT, while there is also commentary on Radio 5 live. Both can be accessed via the BBC Sport website, which will have live text coverage of the match.
It is England's first appearance in a World Cup final for 22 years, with the 1995 encounter ending in a 16-8 defeat by Australia at Wembley.
The last time a team from Britain won the tournament was in 1972 when a combined Great Britain team secured their third world title.
England captain Sean O'Loughlin has been ruled out after picking up a quad injury in their semi-final victory over Tonga, so Sam Burgess will skipper the side at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium.
"We've got an unbelievable opportunity to do something pretty special," said Burgess, 28, who will move to loose forward in O'Loughlin's absence.
Team news
England are also without Josh Hodgson, leaving James Roby as the only hooker in the 17-man squad, with Ben Currie starting in the second row and full-back Jonny Lomax coming on to the bench.
Head coach Wayne Bennett says his side are finally back where they belong, with his aim having always been to help England reach a first final since 1995.
"I wanted England to be hopefully more competitive," said Bennett, the most successful coach in Australian rugby league history with seven Grand Final wins.
The 67-year-old, whose contract with England ends after the tournament, became their first Australian boss when he was appointed in February 2016.
"I thought it would add a great deal of interest to it all if we could get England back to that place where they should be and hopefully they can stay there," he added.
Australia coach Mal Meninga, who beat Bennett to the Kangaroos job two years ago, has accused the former Brisbane Broncos boss of mind games before the final.
"Mind games are about 20 years old. We don't want to make it about me and Wayne, it's about the two teams," he said.
England: G Widdop; J McGillvary, K Watkins, J Bateman, R Hall; K Brown, L Gale; C Hill, J Roby, J Graham, B Currie, E Whitehead, S Burgess (capt).
Interchanges: A Walmsley, T Burgess, C Heighington, J Lomax.
Australia: B Slater; D Gagai, W Chambers, J Dugan, V Holmes; M Morgan, C Cronk; A Woods, C Smith, D Klemmer, B Cordner, M Gillett, J McGuire.
Interchanges: W Graham, J McLean, R Campbell-Gillard, T Frizell.
'Nobody remembers the losers'
Assistant coach Denis Betts was the last man to captain England in a World Cup final, the 16-8 loss to Australia in 1995, and says reaching the final itself is not enough because "nobody ever remembers the losers".
Betts said the decision for O'Loughlin not to play in the final was taken by the Wigan player himself.
"He pushed himself as hard as he possibly could," said Betts. "He knows his body, he knows when he's ready to play in this kind of game."
Burgess, who captained England in O'Loughlin's absence in the 2016 Four Nations Series, says England's injury problems give St Helens hooker Roby and Warrington forward Currie a chance to impress.
"We've been extremely consistent in our training. Players have been in and out of different positions so not a lot changes genuinely for our team," he said.
Do England stand a chance?
Not according to the bookmakers, who have the Kangaroos as overwhelming 1-7 favourites.
England have a powerful forward pack that is comfortably the equal of any in the competition and have been strong in defence all the way through, while their attacking combinations have improved week on week.
Brian Noble was the last man to coach a side from the northern hemisphere to victory over Australia in a rugby league match - presiding over Great Britain's 23-12 victory in Sydney in 2006.
He will be in the commentary box alongside Dave Woods on Saturday as the game is broadcast live on BBC One, with coverage starting at 08:30 GMT.
And the 56-year-old believes there are plenty of reasons why England fans can be optimistic of pulling off a major upset. Here are his five reasons:
Sam Burgess. He's a big-game, big-pressure player. He's the leader of the pack and has a healthy disrespect for the Australians. A Clive Churchill man-of-the-match award winner in a Grand Final in the NRL says it all. He's a player the Aussies have to fear.
The back three. Full-back Gareth Widdop and wingers Ryan Hall and Jermaine McGillvary have been outstanding and collectively are better than their counterparts on the other side of the fence. Bennett's decision to move Widdop to full-back after the injury to Jonny Lomax was a stroke of genius. It has created the link with McGillvary, the winger of the tournament. And Hall has also got the pedigree to produce some big moments.
No fear-factor. This Australian line-up is not as fearful as ones I've seen in the past. I'll give you two names who've not been available - Greg Inglis and Johnathan Thurston. They've still got brilliant individuals. Billy Slater will be voted the best full-back they've ever had when he retires, Cameron Smith is definitely the best number nine they've ever had and Cooper Cronk is up there. So the spine of their team are going to have to be rocked and knocked around a bit. But apart from those three, the supporting cast is not as good has it has been, especially in the pack.
England fans can lift the team. They have been superb from when they started arriving in such numbers in Perth and have travelled with the team since. They've put in a phenomenal effort on matchdays with their support.
It feels like it's our time. It's been a heck of a long time since we beat them in a final. But this group is energised and excited. Nobody is expecting us to win it, but they can do it and I believe they will do it.
(BBC)
