reporter Ji Yu
At 0:00 am on November 21, Beijing time, 2022 Qatar World Cup will kick off, and 32 teams gathered in Qatar to launch an impact on the " Hercules Cup ", which represents the highest honor in football. Qilu Evening News·Qilu Yidian Sports Channel has launched a special column for "World Cup Tour", bringing you a comprehensive analysis of 8 World Cup groups and 32 teams, and feeling the passion of the World Cup in advance.
World Cup Top 32 Group B consists of England, Iran, the United States and Wales , and is a group with many stories. As the only team in the group, England booked a qualifying seat almost in advance; although the United States is called the "football desert", football has developed very rapidly in recent years; in the European qualifiers of the Qatar World Cup, Wales defeated Ukraine 1-0 and took the last train of the World Cup; as the number one team in Asia, Iran shoulders the heavy responsibility of proving the level of Asian football.
World Cup Group B schedule:
Round 1:
2022/11/21 21:00 England vs Iran
2022/11/22 03:00 United States vs Wales
Round 2:
2022/11/25 18:00 Wales vs Iran
2022/11/26 03:00 England vs United States
Round 3:
2022/11/30 03:00 Wales vs England
2022/11/30 03:00 Wales vs England
2022/11/30 03:00 Wales vs England
2022/11/30 03:00 Iran vs. the United States
" Three Lions " England
The strongest team in Group B, which was attacked by injuries,
qualifiers for 10 rounds, England had an unbeaten record of 8 wins, 2 draws and 0 losses, ranked first in the group with 26 points, and advanced to the World Cup finals, which was enough to reflect their strength.
England is a team with World Cup genes. Since 1982, they have reached the World Cup finals for 10 consecutive times. However, this traditional European strong team that people think of has only won one World Cup championship yet.
1966, as the host, the English team took up all the right time, place and people. In the group stage, they defeated Mexico and France, drew with Uruguay , and qualified as the first in the group. Since then, they have defeated Argentina and Portugal one after another. In the final, England drew with the "West Germany" in regular time, and defeated the opponent 4:2 in overtime with Hurst's hat trick, winning the championship for the first time.
This land has nurtured the most competitive and intense league in the world - the Premier League, and has also produced a group of world-class superstars. On the team's forward line, Kane is the player that coach Southgate trusts the most. As the top scorer of the 2018 World Cup, Kane was highly expected in this World Cup. In the midfield, England stars emerged. The 23-year-old Mount scored 13 goals and sent 16 assists for Chelsea last season, and the 19-year-old Bellingham handed in 44 games with 6 goals and 13 assists. On the defense line, Maguire is the most important part of the team's defensive end.
From the lineup, England is fully qualified to be the favorite to win the championship. However, frequent injuries are affecting the team. Although Southgate pleaded with the Premier League teams many times, hoping to "treat" national team players, the number of injuries suffered by the England international is no less than other teams.
Smith Rod just underwent surgery at the end of September and is expected to return in December; Reese James was injured in recent games, and he chose conservative treatment, and he is not expected to catch up with the top 32 events; in addition, Kyle Walker is also injured.
Recently, England has performed poorly. From the UEFA Nations League in June to the warm-up match for the World Cup in September, England has drawn 3 and lost 3 in the last 6 games, not winning in one game.
If the above players cannot catch up with the World Cup, it will not be easy for England to go far.
"Asian overlord" Iran
can go further this year?
Speaking of Asian football, the Iranian team is definitely worthy of having a name. As the number one team in Asia, since entering the World Cup, Iran has inevitably gained attention from all over Asia.
In recent years, Iranian football has faced the dilemma of "not meeting the young and old".Especially in the top 40 of the World Cup, Iran's performance did not show the momentum of "Asian overlord", which further exacerbated this doubt. However, in this World Cup top 12, Iran recovered its form, with 8 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss in 10 games, 25 points, and advanced to the World Cup finals with his head held high, which would also shatter doubts.
Iran is a regular visitor to the World Cup. They advanced to the World Cup finals in 1978, 1998, 2006, 2014 and 2018 respectively. However, they never qualified in the group. In 2018, although the Iranian team won its first group stage victory in 20 years, it eventually became the third in the group and missed the top 16.
mentions the Iranian team, and the name of legendary star Alidei has to be mentioned. From 1993 to 2006, Alidei played 149 times for the Iranian national team, , and scored 109 goals, making him the most outstanding center in Asia in that era. Today, although there are no superstars in the Iran team, there are still top Asian shooters like Azmon and Taremi.
This year's World Cup group stage , Iran's signing luck is not very good, but there is no possibility of going further. This time, can Iran seize the opportunity and create history?
"Football Desert" American
" Uncle Sam " storm of youth?
The United States has always been regarded as a "football desert", but this statement is largely compared to events such as football , baseball , ice hockey, basketball, etc. In fact, in the 21 World Cups that have been held, the United States has been shortlisted for 10 finals. Their best result was in the first World Cup in 1930, when the United States won third place.
However, at that time, only 13 teams participated in the World Cup, and the competition system was an invitation system. These factors greatly reduced the value of the third place. Since then, Captain America has been silent for a long time until he entered the quarterfinals of the World Cup in 2002.
In recent years, some potential new stars have emerged in the US football world. Currently, more than ten players of the US team play in , the five major leagues of , and they are also one of the youngest teams in the top 32. Although there are no superstars in the US team, it is still expected to cause a youth storm in the group stage.
Chelsea team Players Pulisic (third from left) celebrated with his teammates after scoring the goal. Xinhua News Agency released
The number one star in the US team is Pulisic who plays for Chelsea. Although this "Captain America" did not perform well in the club, he had to carry the United States forward. In addition, the 22-year-old young player Dest who plays for Barcelona will also help the team on the front line. Allenson and Taylor Adams who play for Leeds United , and McKennie of Juventus, also have certain strengths.
In recent years, American football has made long-term development. At the same time, with the change of concepts, the mass base of football in the United States has also been significantly improved compared with before. At present, there are tens of thousands of registered football clubs in the United States, with more than 20 million registered athletes, ranking first in the world. Because of this, as a representative of national football, the US national team needs to play a role in this World Cup and consolidate the position of football in the hearts of the people.
"Red Dragon" Wales
"Great Sage" can lead the team?
In recent years, Wales' progress has been obvious to all. In 2016, Wales advanced to the European Cup finals for the first time in history. Without being optimistic, they beat England, the strongest opponent in the group, and advanced to the knockout round with the first place in the group. In the end, they defeated the favorites to win the championship in the quarter-finals and advanced to the semi-finals historically. In the semi-finals, they lost to the European Cup champion Portugal. Even so, they still created miracles in team history.
After this, they advanced to the finals of the 2020 European Cup and advanced to the knockout round as second in Group A. In the 1/8 final, the team defeated Denmark with a score of 0:4 and stopped in the quarterfinals.
In the World Cup, they have been waiting for too long to advance to the finals.
Wales last advanced to the World Cup, which dates back to 1958.On June 5, 2022, they narrowly defeated Ukraine 1:0 in the qualifier play-off, becoming the last team in the European region to be sure to advance to the finals. The only goal in the game was an own goal from Ukrainian captain Yarmolenko, which was extremely dramatic.
There is only one core of Wales, that is, "Great Sage" Bell . During the World Cup qualifiers, Bale played a total of 7 games, scoring 5 goals and giving 3 assists. Bale not only led the team to complete a historic breakthrough in the European Cup, but also became the hero of the "Red Dragon" to enter the World Cup again after more than half a century - the own goal scored by Yarmolenko was initiated by Bale.
In order to prepare for the World Cup, Bale left the five major leagues with high intensity and was determined to join , the American Major League Soccer , Los Angeles FC in the middle of this year. This way, he can play for the club selectively and devote himself to the warm-up matches of the former World Cup, and reduce injuries in low-confrontation leagues. After
transferred to Los Angeles FC, Bale's annual salary was only 1 million US dollars, which is less than a fraction of the annual salary of $20 million at Real Madrid . It can be seen that Bale really wants to do something for the national team in his late years of his career.
The former Bale is known for his speed and explosive power. Now at the age of 33, although his speed is no longer as fast as before, he is still an excellent midfielder. At the same time, there are many "old guns" such as Ramsey, Joe Allen, Hennessy , and new stars such as Harry Wilson , Brennan Wilson. Can they be combined together copy the myth that was staged in the European Cup in 2016? Let's wait and see.
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