Four in ten British men don't know who the England Captain is, survey finds

Try to picture generic football fans and your brain will probably pummel you almost exclusively with images of men dressed head-to-toe in white and red.

Perhaps big, burly and in threatening-looking crowds too, lobbing beer at each other in a manly version of celebration.

Or - if in defeat - brawling and shaking their fists, perhaps allowing a single macho tear to stand its ground and glisten on a bearded cheek.

Picture: Associated Press

It turns out that's bullsh*t. Mainly.

Far from every stadium and pub being filled with men spilling out endless football trivia, a third of British football fans are actually women - and many men know far less about football than they let on, a survey by Sure Men has revealed.

One in ten men feel pressure to be knowledgeable about football when watching with friends. But if you're a man and don't know who this England player is, don't feel bad.

Picture: Getty Images / Dan Mullan / Staff

You're far from alone.

Nearly half (46 per cent) of British men surveyed revealed they didn't know who Liverpool's rising star Trent Alexander-Arnold (pictured above) was. In fact, one in ten thought he was a reality TV star, politician or newsreader.

Likewise, four in ten didn't know Harry Kane is England captain this summer and - this is the best stat of all - seven in ten guys suspected Belgium striker Batshuayi to be a type of cheese. Easily done.

So why any pressure? Men are clearly less fanatic about football than we thought. Josh Plimmer, Sure Men's brand manager said:

Our latest research has shown that not all guys will be football fanatics this summer and that, sometimes, they can feel under pressure to appear knowledgeable about football.

We want guys to know they can be sport cool without needing to feel like a boffin!

Alongside accepting that not all men are happy to see endless football coverage this summer, we also need to do better recognising that some women are.

With Vicky Sparks crushing it as the first woman to commentate on the World Cup, this competition has been a monumental moment for women in sport - and a disappointing one, as female football pundits, journalists and fans have been repeatedly treated as invaders into a man's game.

Reporters have been harassed; a former footballer said women's voices are too "high-pitched" to commentate; and Fare Network, which campaigns against racism and sexism in football, has documented 35 incidents of sexual harassment or assault - 'the worst sexism seen at a World Cup', according to the former executive director.

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