World Cup 2022: England vs Iran
England is a regular in the World Cup, but they’re opening their Group B fixture against Iran for the first time ever in Qatar.
On Monday, England will face Iran in the World Cup in their opening match for Group B at the Khalifa International Stadium.
England qualified for the World Cup for the 16th time, making it their seventh appearance in the tournament in a row as well as the longest streak in the competition.
Check out the full England squad.
On the squad, England has Harry Kane, who was the top scorer in the 2018 World Cup. He had six goals…no player has topped the scoring charts at consecutive World Cups, but he could do it.
“We’ve all seen England at major tournaments in recent years, and they’ve been brilliant,” said England player James Maddison. “At the Euros, you could see there was a feel about the Euros, and in Russia, that the togetherness was all there for everyone to see.”
Iran, on the other hand, have never progressed past the first round of the World Cup, winning only two of their 15 total matches. Iran is one of 20 teams to feature at the last two World Cups and one of the teams had the fewest shots (47), fewest shots on target (10), and scored the fewest goals (three).
Check out the full Iran squad.
“Any team that’s here at a World Cup is going to be a very good team,” said England player Eric Dier. “I think the quality of football in general is getting better and better, and the depth of the quality of the teams is getting bigger and bigger.”