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England always enter major football tournaments as favourites given the depth of quality in their squad. But a lot of their performance will depend on their head coach Gareth Southgate. Standing in their way in Group B are Iran, USA and Wales, which makes this group a very interesting one to watch.
USA and Iran are two sides with unpredictable nature, while Wales have the potential to upset even the biggest teams on their best days. Ahead of kick-off day, we take a look at Group B, and how the teams among these four will fare at the World Cup.
England
Gareth Southgate's team have actually fared much better during his time as head coach than most teams care to admit. Having joined the side in 2018, England qualified for the semifinals of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, before reaching the final of the 2020 Euros, losing to Italy on penalties.
England have won the coveted trophy just once in their long history in the World Cup, back in 1966. Other than this, the side finished fourth twice, in 1990 and 2018, but this is the extent of their record in world football, which is quite underwhelming considering that the Premier League has dominated European football for many years.
A lot of their emphasis with be on their defence, with a lot of focus on Harry Maguire. The veteran centre-back has come under fire for his performance with Manchester United, but Maguire has been solid for England. But their attack has some of the most exciting talents in Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden, but the player to watch out for is undoubtedly Jude Bellingham, a player valued at 100 million and targetted by some of the biggest European clubs for the January transfer window.
Fixtures: Iran: November 21, United States: November 25, Wales: November 29
Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale, Nick Pope.
Defenders: Kieran Trippier, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kyle Walker, Ben White, Harry Maguire, John Stones, Eric Dier, Conor Coady, Luke Shaw.
Midfielders: Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham, Kalvin Phillips, Jordan Henderson, Conor Gallagher, Mason Mount.
Forwards: Harry Kane, Callum Wilson, Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterling, Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, James Maddison.
United States
The United States, in previous tournaments, have always relied on their veteran players such as Tim Howard, Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley. But this time around, after missing the 2018 World Cup following their surprising loss to Trinidad and Tobago during qualification, the head coach Gregg Berhalter will hope to come close to emulating the success of their Women's football team.
The USA did not qualify in 2018 after playing seven consecutive World Cup campaigns. In 2002, the Americans reached the Quarterfinals, but this is actually their best performance at the World Cup. Way back in 1930, when the tournament was hosted for the first time, the United States came third over the loser of the other semifinal, Yugoslavia, because of a better goal difference (USA'S +1 to Yugoslavia's 0). No third-place match was played.
And this time around, a plethora of young talent will be on display for the American team. Led by senior members in Tim Ream and Cameron Carter-Vickers, but defender DeAndre Yedlin is the lone World Cup veteran in the squad after the right-back made his World Cup debut as a 20-year-old in Brazil in 2014. But the likes of Christian Pulisic, Giovanni Reyna, Sergino Dest, Brenden Aaronson, Yunus Musah and Yunus Musah are just some of the young players in this exciting squad.
Fixtures: Wales: November 21, England: November 25, IR Iran: November 29
Goalkeepers: Matt Turner, Sean Johnson, Ethan Horvath
Defenders: Cameron Carter-Vickers, Sergino Dest, Aaron Long, Shaq Moore, Tim Ream, Antonee Robinson, Joe Scally, DeAndre Yedlin, Walker Zimmerman
Midfielders: Brenden Aaronson, Kellyn Acosta, Yunus Musah, Luca de la Torre, Weston McKennie, Yunus Musah, Cristian Roldan
Forwards: Jesus Ferreira, Jordan Morris, Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna, Joshua Sargent, Timothy Weah, Haji Wright
Wales
The 2022 Qatar World Cup will be the final time that veteran Gareth Bale can display his talent on the world stage. The former Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur player is currently plying his trade in America, playing for Los Angeles FC. But while Bale is a legend in his own right, many other players can guide this team to success.
This is just the second time that Wales have qualified for the World Cup, after 1958. During qualification, Wale lost 3–1 away to Belgium in their opening game and then went unbeaten in their remaining seven matches to finish second in their group ahead of the Czech Republic to qualify for the playoffs. The side then beat Austria and Ukraine to reach the World Cup for the first time in 64 years. Their main aim will be to do better than their quarterfinal finish in 1958.
In Bale, Ben Davies, Aaron Ramsey, Joe Allen and Danny Ward, Wales have a lot of experience to help out their younger talents like Ethan Ampadu, Neco Williams, Matthew Smith and Brennan Johnson. Facing their neighbouring rivals England in what is a potential derby, Wales is surely one of the teams to watch out for.
Fixtures: United States: November 21, IR Iran: November 25, England: November 29
Goalkeepers: Wayne Hennessey, Danny Ward, Adam Davies
Defenders: Ben Davies, Ben Cabango, Tom Lockyer, Joe Rodon, Chris Mepham, Ethan Ampadu, Chris Gunter, Neco Williams, Connor Roberts
Midfielders: Sorba Thomas, Joe Allen, Matthew Smith, Dylan Levitt, Harry Wilson, Joe Morrell, Jonny Williams, Aaron Ramsey, Rubin Colwill
Forwards: Gareth Bale, Kieffer Moore, Mark Harris, Brennan Johnson, Daniel James
Iran
The Asian country of Iran have reached the finals of the FIFA World Cup on five previous occasions, but have never managed to get through the group stage. This time around they have been given another tough group to manoeuvre, but with the European experience of Sardar Azmoun and Mehdi Taremi, this side can do well to surprise their opponents.
The side are coached by the legendary Carlos Queiroz who has been their head coach for over 10 years. In the qualifying stage, beat beat rivals Iraq 1-0 to become the 19th team to reach the FIFA World Cup.
Fixtures: England: November 21, Wales: November 25, United States: November 29
Goalkeepers: Alireza Beiranvand, Amir Abedzadeh, Hossein Hosseini, Payam Niazmand.
Defenders: Ehsan Hajsafi, Morteza Pouraliganji, Ramin Rezaeian, Milad Mohammadi, Hossein Kanani, Shojae Khalilzadeh, Sadegh Moharrami, Rouzbeh Cheshmi, Majid Hosseini, Abolfazl Jalali.
Midfielders: Ahmad Noorollahi, Saman Ghoddos, Vahid Amiri, Saeid Ezatolahi, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Mehdi Torabi, Ali Gholizadeh, Ali Karimi.
Forwards: Karim Ansarifard, Sardar Azmoun, Mehdi Taremi.
Group prediction
Looking at this group at the first glance, one of the sureshot teams has to be England. It will definitely spell the end of Gareth Southgate's tenure if the side fail to qualify, meaning that the fight for the second spot will fall to Iran, USA and Wales, especially the USA and Wales, however, given the pedigree of the US players in European football as compared to the Welsh players, it is likely that the Americans will pip them to the second spot.
