World Cup 2022 England vs Iran Tips and Predictions

The Group B opener sees England host Iran at the Khalifa International Stadium on November 21st.

Having reached the final of Euro 2020, the Three Lions will be keen to go one step further. Despite their struggles in the Nations League, England have been priced up as one of the favourites in the outright World Cup betting odds and although they have often struggled to break down lesser opposition, they have a terrific strength-in-depth and will be able to make changes if things aren’t going their way.

This will be Iran’s sixth appearance at the World Cup, although they’ve failed to make it past the group stage in each of their last four attempts. In 2018, they picked up their first World Cup victory in two decades and although the majority of predictions will have them finishing bottom of Group B, they are unlikely to go down without a fight.

10Bet have priced England up as the 1/3 favourites to collect three points in this opening Group B contest. Iran will be compact and tough to break down. Bwin are offering a generous 4/1 for this game to end all-square.

• These two sides have never previously faced one another
• England – England have won three of their last six World Cup openers. They edged past Tunisia in 2018 and this was the second time they have beaten the North African side in the tournament opener.
• Iran – There were just four goals in Iran’s three group stage games at the 2018 World Cup. They conceded just two goals despite being drawn alongside both Spain and Portugal.

Iran proved to be frustrating opposition in 2018 as they beat Morocco (1-0), lost narrowly to Spain (0-1) and picked up a point against Portugal (1-1). Many of the England players may struggle to acclimatise to the conditions during this opening group game and this one is likely to get off to a slow start.

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England’s Nations League matches have been a little disjointed and with injuries and fatigue likely to kick in after a tough few opening months of the domestic campaign, Gareth Southgate’s men are unlikely to ease to victory. They are 1/3 in the World Cup betting odds, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them struggle during the first 45 minutes.

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Although this is a step up in class, Iran conceded just four times during qualifying and having held Spain and Portugal at arm’s length for the majority of the 90 minutes in 2018, they will not make this easy for the Euro 2020 finalists.

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England

England hit the ground running in 2018 and scored eight times across their first two group games, however, this is not expected to be as straightforward. There has been some criticism of Southgate’s conservative approach and he will be keen to simply emerge from this fixture unscathed.

Key Players: Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka, Trent Alexander-Arnold

Team News: Gareth Southgate has opted very few surprised in his World Cup squad, however, he wasn’t able to call upon Reece James, who misses out completely. Despite some poor performances domestically, both Harry Maguire and Trent Alexander-Arnold are expected to feature.

Predicted Lineups: Nick Pope, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Reece James, John Stones, Harry Maguire, Declan Rice, Jordan Henderson, Jude Bellingham, Mason Mount, Bukayo Saka, Harry Kane

Iran

Iran appointed Carlos Quieroz for the third time at the beginning of September with the former Manchester United assistant taking over from Dragan Skovic. Having taken the team to this tournament in both 2014 and 2018, he is likely to a similarly robust approach to these games. As a result, we can Iran to be difficult to beat and solid defensively.

Key Players: Sardar Azmoun, Alireza Jahanbakhsh

Team News: Key player Sardar Azmoun is hoping to fit enough to feature, although this opening match may come too soon for the Bayer Leverkusen man, who is recovering from a calf injury. Allahyar Sayyadmanesh is also struggling and may miss out.

Predicted Lineups: Alireza Beiranvand, Mohammed Hossein Kanani, Sadegh Moharrami, Majid Hosseini, Ahmed Noorollahi, Saeid Ezatolahi, Ali Gholizadeh, Omid Noorafkahn, Sardar Azmoun, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Allahyar Sayyadmanesh.

England are the odds-on favourite for this opening group stage contest, however, Iran have shown their ability to disrupt at this tournament. Team Melli may lack quality options going forward, however, they are a tight unit and will look to keep the much-fancied Three Lions off the scoresheet for the majority of this tie.

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