Qatar 2022 | Group B: England have another golden generation and this one’s quite good

With its teams ranked between ninth and 20th in the world, the 2022 Fifa World Cup’s Group B is not a group of death, but is perhaps the tightest by far in Qatar.

England

England always have that one excellent striker to lead their line into a World Cup — from Bobby Charlton when they won it in 1966, to Kevin Keegan, Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney and now Harry Kane. They also perennially go to a World Cup with high hopes, only for the tournament to end in tears.

Strangely, given England finally have a team that genuinely has reason for optimism, the country are getting pre-tournament jitters about manager Gareth Southgate and his combination. Maybe that’s the reason England should be most feared in Qatar. A classy line-up — who as, a young combination, came the closest England had for decades losing in extra time in the semifinals against Croatia at Russia 2018, and losing on their penalties curse in the Euro 2020 final against Italy — tempered by realistic expectations could be a danger in 2022.

They qualified topping a fairly pedestrian group with eight victories and two draws. England have no wins in Uefa’s Nations League in six matches, and four goals scored, including last month’s flat 2-0 defeat to Germany at Wembley where centreback Harry Maguire — whose loyalty from Southgate is being severely tested — was booed and made horrendous errors. But prioritising pragmatic over expressive football going into a World Cup, making sure the team is well organised, is not always a bad thing.

Ranked ninth, England have more quality, perhaps, than at any time since 1966, including Kane, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, plus a new starlet in Jude Bellingham. Their three scenarios are an opening round bomb-out, bravely falling at an advanced stage amid tears and chants of glory, or actually ending the drought since 1966. God help us all if it’s the last of those — we’ll never hear the end of it.

Iran

South Africans will follow Iran with interest given the South African connection. Former Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Queiroz returned to take charge of Team Melli last month, and quickly roped in partner in crime ex-Orlando Pirates Roger de Sa as his assistant again. It remains to be seen if a change of coach, replacing Croatian Dragan Skokic due to a change in administration at the FA that favoured Queiroz, so soon before the tournament backfires. 

Queiroz's familiarity with the team — qualifying Iran for the 2014 and 2018 World Cups and exiting in the group stage there — should help. The new coaching staff started with promising results, beating Uruguay and drawing against Senegal in their camp in Austria. Iran had the strongest qualification from Asia. Team Melli won Group A with 25 points, ahead of South Korea, while Saudi Arabia won Group B with 23. Iran have won the AFC Asian Cup three times, though the last was in 1976.

Queiroz’s squad has many combined years and caps, though the coach might worry it lacks youthful energy. Forward Mehdi Taremi, 30, was joint top-scorer Portuguese Primeira Liga in 2019-20 playing for Rio Aves, and for FC Porto was third-top scorer in 2020-21 and second in 2021-22. Winger Sardar Azmoun,27, now at Bayer Leverkusen, became Iran's top scorer in the Uefa Champions League in prolific time spent in Russia.

Ranked 20th, Iran will make Group B tough at the least; at most they have every chance of finally going past the group phase in their sixth World Cup.

US

Like England, the US have one of their strongest combinations ever — a side with players based at some of Europe's leading clubs is a genuine golden generation. Yet, like England, form has been a concern for Gregg Berhalter’s young side.

The US squeezed into the World Cup as the third-placed team behind Canada and Mexico, on goal difference from fourth-placed Costa Rica, in Concacaf’s second round of qualifying. A problem for the US has been their region of central and North America and the Caribbean does not provide a stern enough test, and the US are seven-time Concacaf Gold Cup champions.

But, ranked 16th in the world, Berhalter’s US as coach — compared to when he was a player in the 1990s and 2000s and his teammates turned out for clubs like Sunderland, DC United and Blackburn Rovers — is positively star-studded.

The squad includes 21-year-old Barcelona right-back Sergino Dest and Weston McKennie, the 24-year-old Juventus midfielder who has drawn comparisons with Edgar Davids. Valencia's 19-year-old central midfielder Yunus Musah is an emerging star. Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic, 23, is a genuine superstar.

Big things have been expected from the world’s economic powerhouse given the structures it placed after hosting the 1994 World Cup, including a Major League Soccer that improves each year. With youth, lack of fear, and so much quality, this US should do something in Qatar.

Wales

Wales are playing in only their second World Cup since 1958, where they lost 1-0 in the quarterfinals in Sweden to eventual champions Brazil, 18-year-old Pelé scoring the winner. Former Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale, now at Los Angeles FC, is the undoubted driving force. He struck three in the World Cup group stage and three more in the second round for best runners-up finishers, including the winner that broke Ukraine’s hearts.

Their coaching situation raises eyebrows — Robert Page has been a stand-in coach for two years since Ryan Giggs lost the job in November 2020 over an assault charge scandal. But Wales’ renowned relish for a fight and underdog mentality — evident in their dream run to the Euro 2016 semifinals, and second-round exit at Euro 2020 — will make the underdogs of Group B a danger.

Ranked an impressive 19th — and boasting players of the class of Aaron Ramsey, Nottingham Forest’s emerging forward star Brennan Johnson and Fulham winger Daniel James — the Dragons will make it hot for their opposition in Qatar.

* The 2022 Fifa World Cup kicks off on November 20 and the final is on December 18. TimesLIVE and TimesLIVE Premium will profile all eight groups, the tournament favourites, star players and five African teams over the coming weeks.