The 2022 World Cup is just weeks away and fans around the world are preparing for four weeks of action-packed football featuring some of the most talented players ever to grace the pitch.
This will be the final World Cup tournament for several football greats such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski but new stars have emerged over recent years with the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, Kevin De Bruyne and several others tipped to set the pitches alight in Qatar this winter.
Following a third-place finish at the 2018 World Cup and losing the European Championships on penalties to Italy last summer, there have been high hopes for Gareth Southgate’s England leading up to Qatar 2022. Moods have been dampened somewhat by a lacklustre performance in this summer’s Nations League campaign but that is unlikely to stop English fans getting fully behind their team throughout the tournament.
This year, England fans don’t have a new World Cup song such as World in Motion, Three Lions or even Vindaloo by Fat Les to lift spirits but football fever will no doubt sweep across the nation as England attempt to lift their first World Cup trophy since 1966.
The good news for England fans is that many of the matches are being played at favourable times. England vs the US will get underway at 7pm GMT and Wales vs England at 5pm. Only England’s opening match against Iran is set to kick-off at the slightly inconvenient time of 1pm on a Monday afternoon. That’s great news for both fans and establishments who will be packing their pubs and dedicated World Cup venues full of English supporters at every opportunity. If English finish top of their group, they’ll be playing their Round of 16 tie at 7pm on Monday 4th December and even if they finish as runners up in Group B, their match will be on the Sunday prior.
Several of the top online bookies have England tipped as fourth favourites to win the tournament with France, Argentina and the favourites, Brazil ahead of them. This will be Southgate's biggest challenge to date since taking the job back in September 2016 with expectations set high following his side's positive results in recent major tournaments.
The England boss, who famously missed the deciding penalty in England’s Euro ‘96 semi-final against Germany at Wembley, signed a two-year extension to remain as England manager until December 2024. His contract would mean that he is in charge of the national side for their Euro 2024 campaign, should they qualify, but failure in this year’s World Cup would mean that the ex-Palace, Villa & Middlesbrough defender would be under a huge amount of pressure.
If their recent Nations League campaign hadn't been a flop, expectations heading into the World Cup would be even higher for England but there’s no doubt that the squad has immense quality.
Star striker Harry Kane finished the 2018 World Cup as the top goalscorer and he’s currently the bookies favourite to do the job again, this time in Qatar.
The Three Lions have several other players of note that should be respected by the opposing teams. Manchester City’s Phil Foden is an exceptional talent and has shown that at club level this season. Raheem Sterling has always produced solid performances in an England shirt and the likes of Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Sako will be eager to prove their worth when they get minutes on the pitch.
Regardless of expectations, England fans around the country will be getting behind their team until the very end. The World Cup only takes every four years and football fans in England certainly know how to make the most of it with parties, celebrations, singing and encouragement.
England’s first match of the World Cup is against Iran and kicks off at 1pm on Monday, November 21 at the Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar.
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