England and Iran will kick off Group B of the 2022 FIFA World Cup this afternoon at the Khalifa International Stadium.
The 'Three Lions' recorded a decent campaign in Russia, having made all the way to semi final for the first in many years, but unfortunately lost narrowly to Croatia.
The 1966 champions were really unstoppable during the qualifiers series, having finished as winners of Group I with a staggering unbeaten run, winning eight and two draws in the ten matches honoured.
After finishing as first runners up in the European Championship in the summer of 2021 and sealed their qualification, England got relegated in the UEFA Nations League after a shambolic display to finish at the bottom of the group that comprised of Italy, Germany and Hungary.
Iran however, have made it to the last three World Cup editions including this, and will look to send a strong statement on their sixth appearance, having appeared a pain in the neck in 2014 for Lionel Messi's led Argentina.
Team Melin- as they are affectionately referred to, also grinded eight victories in the qualifiers and finished as group winners over South Korea.
The Persians have faced stiffer oppositions in their last four matches, recording two wins, a draw and a defeat, coming up against Algeria, Senegal and Uruguay.
TEAM NEWS
Both teams have any major injuries at their disposal.
PROBABLE XI
England: Pickford, Trippier, Shaw, Maguire, Stones, Rice, Bellinghag, Sterling, Saka, Mount, Kane
Iran: Alireza Beiranvad, Morteza, Cheshmi, Majid Hoseini, Moharrami, Nourollahi, Ali Karimi, Hajsafi, Mohammadi, Alireza, Mehdi Taremi.
CHANNELS
TV3, StarTimes, Joy News, SuperSport, GTV Sports+, beIN SPORTS, BT Sports, SkySports, ORTB, DStv Now, GOTV, Metro TV, Globe TV
KICKOFF
1300GMT (1:00pm)
By: Iddriss Abdul Rahim
