England take on Iran in the opening match of group B, with England dubbed big favourites over the Asian powerhouse.
It isn’t all plain sailing for England, though, with several of their players being under injury clouds ahead of the first game.
Iran too have important players facing a race against time to be fit, with some players also being caught up in the political situation back at home.
Below are the projected lineups for both teams based on the latest news leading up to the match.
MORE: England vs. Iran betting odds: tips, predictions and best bets
England vs Iran lineups
For this opening game, England will be without Kyle Walker, who ruled himself out as he makes his way back from groin surgery. Kieran Trippier and Trent Alexander-Arnold will be the prime candidates to replace the Man City right-back.
Iran are sweating on the fitness of their star striker Sardar Azmoun. The prolific striker hasn’t played for club side Bayer Leverkusen since the end of September with a calf tear, and he missed their warm up match against Nicaragua on November 10.
Below are the predicted starting lineups for both teams ahead of their match at the Khalifa International Stadium on November 21.
England projected starting 11
(3-4-2-1, right to left): 1. Pickford (GK) – 5. Stones, 15. Dier, 7. Maguire – 3. Shaw, 4. Rice, 22. Bellingham, 12. Trippier – 10. Sterling, 20. Foden – 9. Kane
- Injured: Kyle Walker. Doubts: Kalvin Phillips, James Maddison
- Suspended: n/a
Trippier gets the nod in our projected lineup to fill the Walker-shaped void over Alexander-Arnold, due to his superior club form and history of being picked under Southgate
Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice are also highly likely to start as the midfield pair with Raheem Sterling and Phil Foden ahead of them, though Mason Mount and Bukayo Saka could also be in line to start.
Iran projected starting 11
(4-1-3-2, right to left): 1. Beiranvand (GK) – 2. Moharrami, 13. Kanaani, 19. Hosseini, 3. Hajsafi – 6. Ezatolahi – 17. Gholizadeh, 21. Nourollahi, 7. Jahanbakhsh – 9. Taremi, 10. Ansarifard
- Injured: Sardar Azmoun
- Suspended: n/a
We are predicting that star man Azmoun won’t be risked for the opening match and instead saved for the later matches that will be more crucial to Iran’s chances of progressing.
It puts lot of extra pressure on other star performers Mehdi Taremi and Alireza Jahanbakhsh to provide the attacking spark going forward, though they face a weakened England defence with some players who are out of form for their club sides.
England vs Iran World Cup squads
Here are the 26 names on England’s current World Cup squad in Qatar:
| Position | No. | Player | Club | Age | Caps | 2022 World Cup Qualifiers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | 1 | Jordan Pickford | Everton (ENG) | 28 | 45 | 4 |
| GK | 13 | Nick Pope | Newcastle United (ENG) | 30 | 10 | 3 |
| GK | 23 | Aaron Ramsdale | Arsenal (ENG) | 24 | 3 | 1 |
| DEF | 18 | Trent Alexander-Arnold | Liverpool (ENG) | 24 | 17 | 3 |
| DEF | 16 | Conor Coady | Everton (ENG) | 29 | 10 | 4 |
| DEF | 15 | Eric Dier | Tottenham (ENG) | 28 | 47 | 0 |
| DEF | 7 | Harry Maguire | Manchester United (ENG) | 29 | 48 | 6 |
| DEF | 3 | Luke Shaw | Manchester United (ENG) | 27 | 23 | 4 |
| DEF | 5 | John Stones | Manchester City (ENG) | 28 | 59 | 9 |
| DEF | 12 | Kieran Trippier | Newcastle United (ENG) | 32 | 37 | 3 |
| DEF | 2 | Kyle Walker | Manchester City (ENG) | 32 | 70 | 6 |
| DEF | 21 | Ben White | Arsenal (ENG) | 25 | 4 | 0 |
| MID | 22 | Jude Bellingham | Borussia Dortmund (GER) | 19 | 17 | 4 |
| MID | 26 | Conor Gallagher | Chelsea (ENG) | 22 | 4 | 1 |
| MID | 8 | Jordan Henderson | Liverpool (ENG) | 32 | 70 | 4 |
| MID | 19 | Mason Mount | Chelsea (ENG) | 23 | 32 | 8 |
| MID | 14 | Kalvin Phillips | Manchester City (ENG) | 26 | 23 | 7 |
| MID | 4 | Declan Rice | West Ham United (ENG) | 23 | 34 | 5 |
| MID | 25 | James Maddison | Leicester City (ENG) | 25 | 1 | 0 |
| MID | 20 | Phil Foden | Manchester City (ENG) | 21 | 18 | 7 |
| FWD | 24 | Callum Wilson | Newcastle (ENG) | 30 | 4 | 0 |
| FWD | 7 | Jack Grealish | Manchester City (ENG) | 27 | 24 | 6 |
| FWD | 9 | Harry Kane | Tottenham (ENG) | 29 | 75 | 8 |
| FWD | 11 | Marcus Rashford | Manchester United (ENG) | 24 | 46 | 3 |
| FWD | 17 | Bukayo Saka | Arsenal (ENG) | 21 | 20 | 5 |
| FWD | 10 | Raheem Sterling | Manchester City (ENG) | 27 | 79 | 7 |
And the 26 players currently in Iran’s World Cup squad:
| Position | No. | Player | Club | Age | Caps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | 22 | Amir Abedzadeh | Ponferradina (SPA) | 29 | 1 |
| GK | 1 | Alireza Beiranvand | Persepolis (IRA) | 30 | 51 |
| GK | 24 | Hossein Hosseini | Esteghlal (IRA) | 30 | 5 |
| GK | 12 | Payam Niazmand | Persepolis (IRA) | 27 | 1 |
| DEF | 15 | Roozbeh Cheshmi | Esteghlal (IRA) | 34 | 18 |
| DEF | 3 | Ehsan Hajsafi | AEK Athens (GRE) | 30 | 121 |
| DEF | 19 | Majid Hosseini | Kayserispor (TUR) | 26 | 18 |
| DEF | 25 | Abolfazl Jalali | Esteghlal (IRA) | 25 | 2 |
| DEF | 13 | Hossein Kanaani | Al Ahli (QAT) | 27 | 34 |
| DEF | 4 | Shoja Khalilzadeh | Al Ahli (QAT) | 25 | 24 |
| DEF | 5 | Milad Mohammadi | AEK Athens (GRE) | 28 | 45 |
| DEF | 2 | Sadegh Moharrami | Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) | 27 | 21 |
| DEF | 8 | Morteza Pouraliganji | Persepolis (IRA) | 26 | 45 |
| DEF | 23 | Ramin Rezaeian | Sepahan (IRA) | 45 | 2 |
| MID | 11 | Vahid Amiri | Persepolis (IRA) | 34 | 67 |
| MID | 6 | Saeid Ezatolahi | Vejle (DEN) | 26 | 47 |
| MID | 14 | Saman Ghoddos | Brentford (ENG) | 29 | 33 |
| MID | 17 | Ali Gholizadeh | Charleroi (BEL) | 26 | 26 |
| MID | 7 | Alireza Jahanbakhsh | Feyenoord (NED) | 29 | 64 |
| MID | 18 | Ali Karimi | Kayserispor (TUR) | 28 | 13 |
| MID | 21 | Ahmad Nourollahi | Shabab Al Ahli (UAE) | 29 | 26 |
| MID | 16 | Mehdi Torabi | Persepolis (IRA) | 28 | 35 |
| FWD | 10 | Karim Ansarifard | Omonia Nicosia (CYP) | 32 | 94 |
| FWD | 20 | Sardar Azmoun | Bayer Leverkusen (GER) | 27 | 65 |
| FWD | 9 | Mehdi Taremi | Porto (POR) | 30 | 60 |