World Cup Group B: England and Wales meet again

Beating the Americans in the opening match could be crucial to their hopes of a top-two finish.

United States

The USA made hard work of qualifying but just about did enough to return to the finals, having missed out four years ago.

Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic is the main attacking threat in a squad coached by Gregg Berhalter but which looks short on serious firepower.

They failed to score in back-to-back friendlies against Japan and Saudi Arabia in September but they held England to a 1-1 draw at the 2010 World Cup and the same sort of result would be a big boost to their hopes of getting through.

Iran

Iran are seen as the weakest team in Group B but are just one place below Wales and four behind the USA in the FIFA world rankings.

They are appearing at their third successive World Cup and will hope to catch England cold in their opening game, which is the first ever meeting between the two nations.

Calls for them to be kicked out of the World Cup have hardly been the ideal preparation but they may feel they have a point to prove when the tournament gets under way.

🇮🇷🙌 IR Iran make it three #WorldCup tournaments in a row!@theafcdotcom | #WCQ pic.twitter.com/adX70YxVgO

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) January 27, 2022

World Cup Group B fixtures

Nov 21: England v Iran, 1pm, Khalifa International Stadium, BBC

Nov 21: USA v Wales, 7pm, Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, ITV

Nov 25: Wales v Iran, 10am, Khalifa International Stadium, BBC

Nov 25: England v USA, 7pm, Al Bayt Stadium, ITV

Nov 29: Iran v USA, 7pm, Al Thumama Stadium, BBC

Nov 29: Wales v England, 7pm, Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, BBC

World Cup Group B winner odds

4/11 England

5/1 Wales

5/1 USA

14/1 Iran

Odds to qualify

1/10 England

1/1 Wales

1/1 USA

5/2 Iran

View the latest World Cup odds

All odds and markets correct at the date of publication