Elland Road will host last England friendly before 2018 World Cup

England have announced World Cup warm-up friendlies in June against Nigeria at Wembley and Costa Rica at Elland Road.

The fixture against Nigeria will take place on June 2 at HQ before facing Costa Rica five days later in Leeds ahead of their trip to Russia.

Gareth Southgate's men begin their World Cup campaign on June 18 against Tunisia in Volgograd before further Group G matches against Panama in Nizhny Novgorod on June 24 and Belgium in Kaliningrad on June 28.

Southgate said: "We've mostly played European opposition up to now and the Brazil game (a 0-0 draw in November) acted as a reminder that we need to challenge ourselves in different ways as a team.

"We're going into a World Cup where we will play African and Central American opposition so we get that with the games against Nigeria and Costa Rica but it's not just about the games we've got in the group but hopefully beyond that as well.

"We want to expose the team to different styles and different experiences.''

England's clash against Costa Rica - against whom they rounded off a dreadful 2014 World Cup with a goalless draw in the only previous meeting between the teams - will be their third at the 37,890-capacity Elland Road.

They drew 3-3 with Sweden in June 1995 and slipped to a 2-1 defeat to Italy in March 2002 on their last visit to Leeds, while the ground also staged matches in 1996 when England hosted the European Championship.

Taking home games on the road is something England did in the build-up to Euro 2016, playing games at Sunderland's Stadium of Light and Manchester City's Etihad Stadium.

Southgate added: All of the feedback from the team before Euro 2016 was really positive, the players enjoyed it and it was definitely well received by the public.

"We're immensely proud to play the majority of matches at Wembley as our national stadium and it's always special. Equally, it's nice when we have an opportunity to take the team on the road.

"We have a huge following in Yorkshire with large numbers of our members and travelling support coming from that area.

"Having been to Manchester and the north-east last time, it's nice to be able to go to Yorkshire for a different experience for everybody.''

England already have two friendlies scheduled for March, matches against Holland in Amsterdam and Italy at Wembley.