French police are to step up security at ports and airports this week to pinpoint suspected hooligans before the England-Colombia clash in Lens on Friday night.
With England playing a make-or-break match to qualify for the second round of the World Cup, legions of English fans are expected to turn up for the encounter in the city, located a stone's throw away from Britain, Det Insp Peter Chapman said.
"The Lens match is really critical," Mr Chapman said. "I expect quite substantial numbers. This is the easiest of the French cities to get to." Adding to the security problems, in a city close to the Belgian and German borders, will be the expected presence of the Prince of Wales and Prince Harry. Meetings are going on between British and French police to boost police presence at the match.
"We'll be doing a huge sweep of ports, ferry-ports and airports," said Mr Chapman, who heads Britain's National Criminal Intelligence Service Football Unit.
"This will not be a blanket sweep but a targeting of specific individuals, top Category C hooligans." Category Cs are potentially the most violent hooligans, many of whom already have convictions.
On Monday, four English fans were flown home after being expelled from France. A fifth known hooligan was deported on arriving by train at Gare du Nord station in Paris last weekend.
Mr Chapman said that at a meeting last weekend with French police, it was agreed that if he could provide hard evidence that someone was a top Category C hooligan the French would consider expulsion.
The decision to expel such suspects rests with the interior ministry, he said.
An English fan was reported to have been rushed to hospital in Toulouse yesterday after being stabbed in clashes following Romania's victory.
Three other people suffered slight injuries and police detained 12 others in isolated incidents after the match. Two vehicles were damaged and two shop-windows smashed, police said.
Eleven of the detained youths, several of whom were armed with baseball bats, were French. The other was English.