England’s World Cup campaign gets underway when they face Iran on Monday 21st November at 12pm UK time.

The game will take place at the Khalifa International Stadium and is the opening match of Group B.

The Khalifa International Stadium opened in 1976 but has undergone several improvements over the years due to hosting various high-profile events. It is one of eight stadiums in Qatar that is being renovated for the 2022 World Cup with its capacity being increased to 68,000.

Iran are 21st in the official FIFA rankings which is the second-highest rank the team has achieved in 15 years. They’re underdogs to progress out of Group B and are currently priced at 7/2 to move through to the knockout stages of the tournament.

This will be the first time in history these two sides have met and so there’s not a lot of history to base a result on. However, past results aren’t really needed when the gap in quality is so apparent and England should see this game out as comfortable winners.

This World Cup will be the sixth time Iran have qualified for the tournament and will look to make it the first time that they progress past the group stage. However, they’re up against it with the likes of England and USA in their group and it’s likely that they’ll fall at the first hurdle for a seventh time.

As for a prediction, Southgate’s side should get their Qatar 2022 campaign off to the perfect start by picking up their first three points.

They’ll obviously be priced very short which won’t appeal to many from a betting perspective and so it’s best to look at other markets such as England to win to nil and England -2.

I expect England to approach this tournament in the same way as they did the Euros by attempting to retain possession and keep their oppositions chances to a minimum. By doing so, they’re in with a chance of picking up a result against any team and against countries a lot stronger than Iran.

Once both sides have announced their 2022 World Cup Squads, we will update the team news for England vs Iran.