England must convince the atmosphere in their debut against Iran

Group B of the World Cup opens in Qatar today (2:00 pm) with England-Iran taking place at Al Rayyan. A party that will inevitably be marked by a convulsive situation in the Asian country due to the wave of protests that led to the death of young Mahsa Amini in September after being accused of improperly wearing the Islamic veil.

It is in this context that the Iranian players will be the object of attention before any kind of gesture, such as not singing the national anthem, that they can perform in support of the victims and detainees in their country for demonstrating against to government repression.

But above all, the Iranian team, led by Carlos Queiroz, will be touched this afternoon with football pride by showing that it is capable of standing up to the mighty England, one of the candidates for the title and full of stars in the Premier League, which was led. of its captain and scorer, Harry Kane.

The big doubt in Queiroz’s lineup is called Sardar Azmoun. The Portuguese coach, who leads Real Madrid, remained firm and called up the Bayer Leverkusen striker despite being one of the players who has been the most prominent in publishing messages of support for the protests. However, Azmoun is suffering from a muscle injury that has also put his inclusion in the list in doubt and everything points to the fact that he will not start in front today along with Mehdi Taremi (Porto) and Alireza Jahanbaksh (Feyenoord), other prominent team members. Iranian.

In the worst moments of the ‘Maguire era’

England arrive in Qatar at the worst moment of the ‘Southgate era’. Third at the 2018 World Cup in Russia and runners-up at Euro 2020 as hosts, the ‘pross’ were relegated to League B of the Nations League in September after adding just three draws to their group and unbeaten Germany, Italy and Hungary, which handed him his biggest home defeat (0-4) since 1925.

However, England have players of the quality of Bellingham, Mount, Foden, Grealish, Saka, Rashford and the aforementioned Kane to impose their status as favorites in a group completed by the United States and Wales.

The indomitable Maguire

From being a national hero Southagate has been harshly questioned for poor results but also for keeping his faith in the disgraced Harry Maguire. Everything points to the fact that the Manchester United centre-back will continue to be a starter at the back. They are out Kyle Walker, out of rhythm having not played since undergoing surgery in October for a groin injury, and James Maddison, who has not trained in Qatar due to a knee problem in his last game at Leicester.

Yes, Kalvin Phillips is available, having shown minutes again at Manchester City after undergoing surgery for a shoulder injury in September

can be punished

England will challenge FIFA with the rainbow bracelet

England is at war with FIFA, which has imposed the use of traditional wristbands with different messages to prevent teams participating in the World Cup from protesting against human rights abuses in Qatar. The English federation (FA) turned a deaf ear and was exposed to punishment because its captain, Harry Kane, will wear a rainbow bracelet in support of marginalized groups, such as LGTBI, in the Asian country. Yesterday the FA met with FIFA in a hotel in Doha but both sides stood by their positions.