The game that the majority of us have been waiting for, there are always eager eyes whenever England kick off a World Cup campaign. This opening clash against Iran has been made all the more interesting by England’s apparent lack of form heading into the tournament, and it is left to be seen if Southgate’s side can match the heroics of Russia 2018 and Euro 2020.

Standing in their way though are a formidable outfit in Iran. They were placed in the apparent ‘Group of Death’ in their last World Cup outing in 2018,  but despite this, Iran beat Morocco and drew against Portugal, narrowly missing out on progressing into the next round. Four years on, a lot has changed for Iran, both on and off the pitch – managerial replacements, public squad division on social media, almost being knocked out in early qualifications, political tensions, the list goes on. However, from a football perspective, it is obvious that this is now Iran’s Golden Generation and they have finally flourished. We witnessed glimpses in 2018, but after a long-standing unbeaten run, the return of the heavily experienced and tactical Carlos Quieroz (former assistant to Sir Alex Ferguson) who has united the team to beat Uruguay 1-0 and draw with African champions, Senegal 1-1, in recent friendlies; hopes are extremely high in an easier group compared to the previous World Cup. There is added depth in positions, cohesivity and experience of players performing at the top level. Iran’s star player is Porto talisman Mehdi Taremi, who is currently 3rd top goalscorer in the Champions League with a deadly international record level to match. Other players to look for include Alireza Jahanbakhsh (Feyenoord), Sardar Azmoun (Bayer Leverkusen) and Saman Ghoddos (Brentford). Iran is being severely underestimated in this tournament. Carlos Quieroz is known for his defensive tactics and I feel these games will be no different.

How England decides to tackle this opening game is still uncertain. Defensive injuries have somewhat hampered the traditional Southgate faithful, with Kyle Walker unlikely to feature and Reece James missing the entire tournament due to injury.  If the manager decides to use his 3-4-3 more defensive and controlled-like system, then the English could lack some extra penetration. Alternatively, Southgate could opt for a 4-3-3 formation which he tends to go for vs more inferior opposition. Most of the media and England fans are in favour of this approach, unleashing the full attacking potential within this team.

Despite Southgate slowly losing the patience of some England fans, it would be a monumental upset if they were to come out of this game without all three points. It’s hard to see it being a  walk in the park however, with this defiant Iran side probably keeping the scoreline to a respectable 1-0 or 2-0 in favour of the Three Lions.