Group B
Group B is another tight group with this one containing both of the two home nations.
England and Wales are joined by the United States of America and Iran in a group that has its fair share of both political as well as geographical rivals.
The big hitters in Group B are of course England with the former winners ranked 5th in the world coming into the tournament with the men looking to replicate the success the Lionesses enjoyed earlier on in the year.
Under the guidance of Gareth Southgate, England reached the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup and the final of the 2020 European Championships, but still that first trophy since 1966 continues to elude the Three Lions.
Not all Englishmen and women are confident of success coming into the tournament. Defensively the Three Lions don’t appear that strong. Previously Southgate has been criticised for his apparent love of full backs however the full backs don’t fill all English supporters with hope.
Reece James and Ben Chilwell both miss out with injury, Kyle Walker has been called up but is still nursing a groin injury. Other full backs Luke Shaw and Trent Alexander-Arnold haven't had a particularly strong start to the campaign with the latter experiencing a lot of criticism over his defensive performances. However on the plus side Kieran Trippier is enjoy a fine season in the North East with Newcastle United.
On paper Southgate’s side should top the group with a tricky test against either the Netherlands or Senegal likely in the second round.
For decades rugby has been the prominent sport in Wales, but recent years have seen a football revolution in Cymru; spearheaded by the incredible 2016 European Championships.
In said tournament the world was stunned as a little country next to England managed to reach the semi-finals before eventually being knocked out 2-0 by eventual winners Portugal.
This was followed up by another successful European Championship campaign in 2020. The Dragons were able to progress from a tricky group that contained Italy, Switzerland and Turkey. Unfortunately for Wales the tournament came to an end in the second round with the Dragons thumped 4-0 by Denmark in Amsterdam.
Then this summer following a playoff victory in the pouring rain against Ukraine in Cardiff the 64 year wait came to an end as Wales reached their first World Cup since 1958.
With a fresh crop of passionate, talented youngsters alongside the experienced Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey who both have the experience of playing at the top level of the domestic game maybe just maybe the Welsh can dare to dream...
The country who are likely to be competing with Wales for the runners up spot is the USA back at the World Cup following a one tournament absence.
Another young exciting squad the States are looking to progress to the knockout stages for the third consecutive tournament in a row (that they’ve competed in).
The likes of Christian Pulisic and Gio Reyna will need to perform if the States are to progress, however this year might be a tournament too early for America to compete in the knockouts.
Group B’s whipping boys (on paper) is likely to be Iran with the Asians possessing less talent than their opponents.
A regular at the recent World Cups Iran qualified in both 2014 and 2018 but were knocked out in the group stages both times. Although in 2018 the Persian Stars only finished a point behind Spain and Portugal in Group B.
Even though the Iranians do possess players who play club football for Bayer Leverkusen, Porto and Feyenoord, group progression still seems unlikely.
My Predictions
ENG 2-0 IRA
USA 1-1 WAL
WAL 2-0 IRA
ENG 1-0 USA
IRA 1-2 USA
WAL 0-0 ENG
1. England
2. Wales
3. USA
4. Iran
By Nathan Williams
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