One man who knows a thing or two about appearing at the World Cup is ex-England captain David Beckham. The 40-year-old was in Beijing this week to open the China University Football league and weighed in with his expectations for the Three Lions.

The opening ceremony of the China University Football Association was held inside the Beijing Institute of Technology. The press conference room was decorated full of elements from the World Cup. Official footballs of each edition were put on the stage along with jerseys of teams competing in Russia. But those were all supporting acts with icon David Beckham taking center stage. As a beneficiary of youth football development in England, the former Manchester United star acknowledged the growth of youth football in China.

Beckham signed a jersey as a gift to the University Football Association who, in turn, signed the partnership agreement with a sport brand. After all the formalities, Beckham was persuaded to share his predictions on the World Cup in Russia.

The former England international then went onto the pitch to help kick off the opening game of the CUFA. Beckham also had a special football game against some of the children. It's estimated more 2000 teams in China will compete in over 5000 matches of the CUFA this year.