England, the United States, Iran and the European Playoff winner will make up World Cup Group B at Qatar 2022.


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Harry Kane

ENGLAND

Confederation: UEFA
FIFA ranking: 5
Team nickname: The Three Lions
Previous World Cup appearances: 15
Honours: World Cup (1): 1966
Head coach: Gareth Southgate
Star players: Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Phil Foden (Man City), Raheem Sterling (Man City)

Having come so close to adding to their solitary international title in the last two major tournaments, England will be looking to finally end 56 years of hurt in Qatar.

Runners-up at Euro 2020 following a penalty shootout defeat v Italy which followed on from their fourth-place finish at the 2018 World Cup, Gareth Southgate’s side continues to mix youth with experience – developing stars such as Phil Foden and Jadon Sancho provide a balance to the more established players whilst more talent in the likes of Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka will push for their place. Fifteen of Southgate’s squad at Euro 2020 had never featured at a major tournament before being named whilst only hosts Russia named a younger squad at the 2018 World Cup.

Southgate will also hope that Harry Kane, Golden Boot winner in 2018 (6 goals), can continue his relentless scoring for the national side – Kane has 48 goals in 67 caps (as of March 8) and sits just one behind Bobby Charlton and five behind all-time top scorer Wayne Rooney.

Kevin Kilbane's take: “I felt going into the Euro last year that England had the most talented group of attacking players. The question mark was probably over the goalkeeper and maybe defensively – could they keep sides out? And they actually had a very good defensive record throughout the Euro because it was something that Gareth Southgate worked on. Raheem Sterling has been in great form for England of late. He will be looking to take his Manchester City form from over the course of this season into the World Cup. Harry Kane – the talisman for them, really, going into the last World Cup and the Euro, it all depends on him and whether or not he can be firing in goals for them. But along with Jadon Sancho and Phil Foden, two other attacking players that they’ve got, they’ve got a good enough group of attacking talent that it could take them to World Cup glory.”

Head-to-head v Canada: 1-0-0


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Christian Pulisic

UNITED STATES

Confederation: CONCACAF
FIFA ranking: 15
Previous World Cup appearances: 10
Honours: Gold Cup (7): 1991, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2013, 2017, 2021
Head coach: Gregg Berhalter
Star players: Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund), Weston McKennie (Juventus), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea)

Failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup after seven consecutive appearances was a shock to the USA soccer system. The 2-1 defeat away to Trinidad & Tobago led to the departure of coach Bruce Arena and the end of international careers for a number of senior players. Dave Sarachan briefly led the team as interim coach before the appointment of Gregg Berhalter in December 2018. Berhalter was part of the USA squad that reached the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup and after leading them to success at the 2021 Gold Cup with a mix of emerging talent and experienced players, it's hoped that he can find the right blend in Qatar.

Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic is the star man, but a lack of goals within the squad is a concern. Pulisic led the way in qualifying with five, which included a hat-trick against Panama in the penultimate matchday, but no other player scored more than three. Eleven players found the net at least once, but an out-and-out goal scorer may be required.

Kevin Kilbane's take: “Watching the United States in CONCACAF qualifying, I was actually slightly disappointed with them. Christian Pulisic, he’s been the main player for them, but he hasn’t really hit the high side, I don’t feel, and I think as a group under Gregg Berhalter, they haven’t met the expectations they’ve been expected to hit. Now they are still a group that’s in a little bit of transition. A lot of young players have been given the experience to thrive through CONCACAF qualification and I think they might come on through it and we’ll probably see a stronger US team come November, December. But they’ve got a lot to improve upon, I feel, to really go out and hurt some of the superpowers of world soccer.”

Head-to-head v Canada: 22-9-4


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Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh

IRAN

Confederation: AFC
FIFA ranking: 21
Team nickname: Team Melli
Previous World Cup appearances: 5
Honours: Asian Cup (3): 1968, 1972, 1976
Head coach: Dragan Skocic
Star players: Sardar Azmoun (Bayer Leverkusen), Alireza Jahanbakhsh (Feyenoord), Mehdi Taremi (Porto)

The 2022 World Cup will be a sixth appearance at the finals for Iran,  but they will be hoping to make history in Qatar - they're yet to progress from the group stage and have won just twice in 15 matches (v Morocco in 2018 and, famously, v USA in 1998).

Croatian coach Dragan Skokic was appointed in February 2020, replacing Marc Wilmots who lasted for only six matches, and emulating the success of Carlos Queiroz, who led them into two World Cups and two Asian Cups during his eight-year tenure, will be difficult.

Iran is a football-mad country, but has fallen behind its Asian rivals in recent years with the likes of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE holding more lucrative domestic leagues and, whilst players such as Saman Ghoddos (Brentford), Alireza Jaha Alireza Jahanbakhsh (Feyenoord), Sardar Azmoun (Bayer Levekusen) and Mehdi Taremi (Porto) are all plying their trade in Europe's biggest leagues, the domestic game has struggled to grow and earlier this year, Iran's two biggest clubs, Esteghlal and Persepolis (as well as Gol Gohar Sirjan,) were expelled from the 2022 Asian Champions League after failing to meet the necessary criteria.

Known for their defensive strength (they conceded just twice in 12 qualifiers), Skokic needs Taremi (17 goals for Porto this season) and Azmoun (10 goals for Zenit this season before his move to the Bundesliga) to be on top form for Iran to finally make it into the knockout stages.

Head-to-head v Canada: 2-1


EUROPEAN PLAYOFF