England are looking to end their international trophy drought when they take on Iran in their opening Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup match on Monday.
Gareth Southgate’s side have only ever won the World Cup once in their history and that was in 1966 and are hoping to win a Group B that also has Wales and USA.
The Three Lions come into the tournament on the back of a dismal run in the Nations League that saw them relegated to Group B after failing to register a single win.
Kieran Trippier scored in a 2-1 defeat to Croatia during the last edition of the tournament in Russia as England bowed out in the semi-finals.
They eventually lost the third-place playoff to Belgium but are the only European team to have reached the semi-finals in each of the last two major tournaments.
Iran are competing in the World Cup for the third consecutive time but have never managed to make it past the Group stages.
Iran lost 2-0 to Tunisia in a behind-closed-doors friendly on Wednesday, but Queiroz felt it allowed his team to be better prepared for England.
Carlos Queiroz’s sides World Cup goals-per-game ratio of 0.6 is the worst of any country to have played at least 10 matches at the tournament.
Are England going to get their campaign started with an easy win against Iran?
Click here to play here to make your predictions for this match.
What time does England vs Iran start?
The game kicks off at 4pm Kenyan time at the Khalifa International Stadium.
England vs Iran team news
Trippier is set to start at right-back as Manchester City’s Kyle Walker continues to battle his way back from injury as well as James Maddison who missed training.
Declan Rice is guaranteed a spot in the midfield and may have to partner with young talent Jude Bellingham instead of Kalvin Phillips.
Chelsea duo of Mason Mount and Raheem Sterling as well as Bukayo Saka could be the likely three to start behind Harry Kane up front.
Omid Ebrahimi is the most notable absentee from Iran’s squad due to a groin injury as well Sardar Azmoun will both sit this one out.
Porto’s Mehdi Taremi will be key in finding goals for Iran, and he should be supported by a familiar name in Alireza Jahanbakhsh.
England vs Iran head to head
This will be the first competitive match between these two nations.
England vs Iran current form
The Three Lions are on a very poor run of form that has seen them go 6 games without a win, losing three times in the process.
While Iran have won twice, lost twice and shared the spoils in one game over the course of their last 5 games.
England vs Iran prediction
Both nations have not been in great goalscoring form ahead of the World Cup but all this could change with the pressure of playing at the biggest international stage.
England are tipped as favorites to win their opening fixture.