How might Group B finish in the 2022 World Cup
With the 2022 World Cup set to begin on Nov. 20, there are teams from each of the eight groups ready to leave their mark on the tournament.
Looking at Group B, we have England joined by Iran, the United States, and Wales.
This group leaves plenty of interesting questions to be answered once the first match between England and Iran begins.
First Place: England
By default, England tops this group with the sheer amount of quality they have.
This does not mean the group will be a cakewalk, especially with the struggles they had in their recent matchups.
Look no further than their performance in Group 3 of League A for the 2022-23 UEFA Nations League. They failed to win a single game, including an embarrassing 4-0 defeat at home to Hungary, as they went on to be relegated to League B for the 2024-25 edition.
They will hope to regain the form they had throughout World Cup qualifying. They went undefeated in their group while conceding all three of their goals against Poland.
Knowing the talents they have on their squad with the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane, England should be more than capable to bounce back from their slump and win this group in convincing fashion.
Second Place: United States
On paper, the United States should come out of this group as the runner-ups.
On the pitch, however, they are their worst enemy. Following two underwhelming displays against Japan and Saudi Arabia, the team needs to put an emphasis on staying composed in the back and maintaining possession against opponents of similar or higher quality.
They should play at the level they had throughout most of World Cup qualifying. Even though they placed third in their group, only avoiding a playoff due to having a better goal differential than Costa Rica, they scored the second-most goals with 21 only behind Canada’s 23.
The USMNT may have found their best goalkeeper since Tim Howard in Matt Turner, who plays for Arsenal following a successful six-year stint with the New England Revolution. Sergino Dest headlines as a key player in the defense, while Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams complement each other in the midfield.
Offense will be the biggest factor for the team. Even though Christian Pulisic‘s time at Chelsea has been up-and-down, he remains the biggest threat in the final third with his pace on the wing. When healthy, Gio Reyna and Timothy Weah helps elevate the offense to what it can be with their youth and athletic ability.
While their overall inexperience might prevent them from going deep in the knockout rounds, this World Cup will be important considering it’s their first appearance since missing out on the 2018 edition and it will provide great momentum when they host the tournament in 2026.
Third Place: Iran
Iran would be one of the dark horses in this year’s tournament.
Since settling for a respectable third place finish in Group B of the 2018 edition against Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, Iran are battle-tested to the point that they can handle any opponent that comes their way.
This team was in cruise control for World Cup qualifying. In the third round, they won eight of their 10 games while scoring the most goals with 15 to top Group A in Asia.
Only conceding four goals in that round, Iran should seek to maintain that solid defense against the best strikers in this group. Mehdi Taremi and Alireza Jahanbakhsh, who combined for eight of the team’s 15 goals, will be the main keys within the offense.
With their abundant World Cup experience, Iran could eke out a win and a draw in their three matches which would give them a chance of sneaking out of Group B.
Fourth Place: Wales
Major props to Wales for making their first World Cup since 1958, when they lost 1-0 in the quarterfinals to eventual winners Brazil.
Wales persevered on the road to punching their World Cup ticket. They finished second in their group behind Belgium, having to get past back-and-forth matches against Austria and Ukraine in the playoffs to qualify.
Despite this accomplishment, they have struggled since. In Group 4 of League A for the 2022-23 UEFA Nations League, they went winless against Belgium, the Netherlands and Poland, only getting a 1-1 draw against the former.
Most importantly, Wales would never be in this tournament if it were not for the heroics of Gareth Bale. Bale, who will likely conclude his international career after the tournament, scored six goals in qualifying and he will be crucial to how far the team can go in this group and beyond.
While they will no doubt cause trouble to every team in this group, their inferior overall quality will end up in them getting either draws or losses.