32 nations that qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2022 are drawn into eight groups, and here is the group-by-group breakdown.
GROUP B:
England, USA, Iran, and Wales
The big favorite for first place in Group B is England. Most likely, second place will be decided between USA and Wales although Iran will be looking to make a surprise as best ranked Asian team. Two teams that advance to the next round cross path with Group A.
ENGLAND: Their current FIFA ranking at No. 5 gives them legitimate chances to go all the way to the end of the World Cup tournament. England reached the semi-finals of the last World Cup 2018 in Russia where they lost against Croatia. Even more successful, England performed last year as they reached the final of EURO 2021, but unfortunately lost against Italy. For the World Cup 2022, England qualified as UEFA Group I winners and this will be their sixteenth World Cup appearance. Since 2016 their manager is Gareth Southgate, a former England international player who has at his disposal a great selection of young and talented players, such as Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund, Phil Foden from Manchester City or Jadon Sancho who will be looking to make his mark after tough first season at Manchester United. There are also a lot of players in their prime led by star attacker Harry Kane from Tottenham, Chelsea’s latest signing winger Raheem Sterling, and midfielder Declan Rice from West Ham. The defense is also solid led by Harry Maguire from Manchester United and Kyle Walker from Manchester City. England won their only World Cup in 1966. Looking at their current form and squad strength maybe this is the World Cup when football's coming home.
USA: The U.S. team had a surprisingly tough time qualifying for the World Cup 2022 as they took only third place in North American qualifications. Only on goal difference, they placed ahead of Costa Rica. Since 2018 USA is coached by Gregg Berhalter. The world Cup 2022 will be USA's eleventh appearance, they are by far with the Mexico team with the most appearances from North America. The biggest star of the U.S. team is Chelsea's Christian Pulisic, even though he didn't have a great season at Chelsea he surely will be crucial for the U.S. team's hopes at the World Cup 2022. Other star players are Giovanni Reyna from Borussia Dortmund and Weston McKennie from Juventus.
IRAN: Iran qualified for the World Cup 2022 as winners of Group A in Asian qualifications. This will be their seventh World Cup and third in the row. Iran is best ranked Asian team and their result in qualifications with eight wins, one draw, and just one loss while playing attacking football gives them hopes of making some upsets and advancing to the next round of the tournament. Iran never went to the later stages of the tournament and in the World Cup 2022 will be hoping to change that for the first time in their history. Iran's biggest stars are attacker from Bayer Leverkusen Serdar Azmoun and midfielder Alireza Jahanbakhsh from Feyenoord.
WALES: Gareth Bale led Wales to a great playoff win against Ukraine to qualify for the World Cup 2022. This will be their second World Cup appearance. The only time that Wales has previously qualified for the FIFA World Cup was in Sweden in 1958. Wales had great success in the EURO 2016 where they reached the semi-finals and lost to later champion Portugal. With Gareth Bale in form after his signing for Los Angeles FC, they will try to emulate success from 2016. Wales's manager is Robert Page and their by far biggest and most important player is Gareth Bale. This year Bale's contract with Real Madrid expired and he signed for Los Angeles FC. Playing regularly and in a little lower intensity league will allow him to be in top form for the World Cup as he will be crucial for Wales's hopes of achieving anything big in this year's tournament. Other important players are winger David James from Leeds United, midfielder Aaron Ramsey from Juventus, and goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey from Burnley.