Martin Tyler is someone with more World Cup knowledge than most.

The voice of football on Sky Sports has almost 50 years’ worth of commentary experience at international tournaments.

The 77-year-old, who is also a coach at National League South Dartford, will be working for Australian television while he’s in Qatar, which will be his 12th World Cup.

“I was an ITV regional commentator who got chosen, much to my surprise, because I was quite young, to go to Argentina in 1978,” said Tyler, of his first World Cup call-up. “I have done all the World Cups since then.

“It’s something I have sort of grown up with because, obviously, I was around in 1966 and I went to one of the games actually - I was playing non-league football at the time and got tickets. It wasn’t the final, sadly, I’d have loved to have been there.

“It’s the pinnacle of your working season when the World Cup’s in it. It’s the same for commentators as when players get the message to say they have been selected for a squad.

“I know one or two British commentators who haven’t been chosen that are very disappointed and, obviously, will come again.

“But it’s special to be asked to go. I know there’s issues around Qatar but I think we have to see what it’s about and hope that the football is all-embracing.

“I have been to Doha for two days in my whole life so it’ll be a new experience for me and I can’t wait.”

Tyler commentated for ITV in the 1970s and 1980s, including the 1982 World Cup final, before he moved to Sky.

With games in the UK split between BBC and ITV, it means Tyler’s dulcet tones won’t be heard in this country.

He explained: “When I left ITV, I sort of sacrificed my right to broadcast on freeview in Britain. I did do the World Cup final for ITV in 1982, at my second World Cup, which was a bit ahead of schedule.

“It was a wonderful game. Italy beat Germany 3-1 and Marco Tardelli scored. It was just very emotional and a fantastic privilege.

“I’ll be on Sky doing a few interviews and stuff like that because they let me go. I have half worked out what clothes I might take but apparently the air conditioning is very strong so, when you are inside, it’s quite cold. But I can usually manage with one suitcase - and lots of notes!”

Tyler commentated on the infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal in England’s 1986 quarter-final defeat to Argentina in Mexico.

“I knew there was something up because Peter Shilton chased after the referee,” he recalled. “I knew Shilts well and he wouldn’t do that unless there was a real sense of injustice.

“That alerted me. I did it with David Pleat actually for ITV. But I suppose the other side of it was Maradona’s brilliant second goal.”

Unlike Tyler, there are many England fans who have yet to see their country win the World Cup - or any major tournament for that matter - in their lifetime. But Tyler rates the current crop highly.

He said: “People say England have a bad record in the World Cup.

“But in 1982, they didn’t lose a game, '86 was Maradona, '90 they got to the semi-final and lost on penalties, '98, we were playing brilliantly until David Beckham got sent off in St Etienne. Maybe, 2002 wasn’t quite so good or 2006.

“Obviously what happened in 2018 and then since with getting to the Euros final last year was great - and we also got to third place in the Nations League. We have not won in six games which has kept the temperature down, which I think is good news.

“I think a lot of Gareth Southgate and the players are very committed. Wearing an England shirt can be a burden, but I think we have got a group who know the true honour of it. They want to win.

“They have tasted it and got medals, just not winners’ medals. There’s a chance but it’s a short tournament and you roll the dice.”

There have been plenty of changes in technology amid Tyler’s 44 years of commentating at World Cups but his role largely stays the same.

He said: “I think the technology, obviously, has developed. There’s better pictures, HD and all this stuff, and it’s very high-tech now. But for me, it’s the same.

“I still hold a lip microphone. If you ever find an old picture of a broadcaster, going way back, they’ll have one of these lip microphones - Kenneth Wolstenholme had one at the World Cup in 1966. It’s quite similar, I just try and identify players!

“There’s 32 teams now and I have got 19 of them in my group matches. There’s 26 players in each squad so you do the maths, there’s lots of players to learn about!”

Tyler, whose first match was the tournament opener as the hosts faced Ecuador, with the hosts losing 2-0 to their South American opponents, has covered a range of World Cup matches.

“Obviously England weren’t there in 1978 or 1994, but I have done England’s exit a few times,” he said. “Those are moments that stand out for the wrong reasons.

“The one sentence I have never uttered as a broadcaster is ‘England have won the World Cup’ and I’m running out of chances! You never know.

“I’m an independent broadcaster and I’m impartial. So I don’t go as an England fan - I always call them ‘They’ and not ‘We’.

“I hope it’s a good tournament for England, I hope it’s a good tournament for Wales and I hope, mostly, it’s a good tournament for football.

“My memory at the moment is I have got to be ready for Sunday, November 20, which is Qatar versus Ecuador. That’s not a fixture I have done very often. Commentating is like that.

“People might come up and say ‘Oh, I was at that game’ and, obviously there’s a lot of games for me to remember, but I think not making a mistake is how you start out.

“I just want to do a good job. Doing all these World Cups suggests I’m a professional. I go because it’s my job but I go because I love football.”

Anyone interested in hearing Tyler’s World Cup predictions won’t get far.

He explained: “I don’t tip because then you think ‘Oh, I tipped them!’ I don’t like to burden myself with that, to be honest.

“In the end, I just describe and, hopefully, I can do my part of the bargain, identify the players and add a bit of information - and shout ‘Goal’ at the right moment.”