FIFA World Cup 2022 Group B: Fixtures, Match Schedule, Date, and Time, England, USA, Iran, Wales

Group B at the FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar offers some of the most mouth-watering matchups of the entire tournament, with the United States and England topping what promises to be an attractive pool.

The United States has played both England and Group B opponents Iran in past World Cups, including when the U.S. stunned England in 1950. The pair met again in 2010 and shared a draw with the US topping the group. South Africa.

England will start the tournament as strong bookies’ picks to top the group stage, but they are also given an interesting game against their nearest rivals, Wales. Robert Page’s side emerged as playoff winners, beating Austria (in March) and then Ukraine (in June) to book a place in the final.

That European play-off final was postponed until June due to the war in Ukraine, which resulted from Russia’s invasion.

Fixtures and Match Schedule of World Cup Group B

The four teams selected in the group will play in a round-robin format, with each nation playing three other teams. Group standings are based on points from those three group stage matches — three points for a win, one for a draw, any points for a loss.

The top two teams from each group based on total points advance to the single-match knockouts. If the teams are tied on points, goal difference is the first tiebreaker followed by goals. Another set of tiebreakers applies if the teams are tied in those categories.

World Cup Draw Breakdowns:

Group B Teams World Cup 2022

USA

The United States will join the party at the World Cup in 2022, only making it through regional qualification on goal difference over Costa Rica. This will be the 11th time the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) has performed on the global stage, following a remarkable run through the semifinals at the inaugural tournament in 1930.

Without question, Greg Berhalter’s side has enough young talent to have a chance to get out of the group and should excite supporters along the way as they plan for a potentially deep World Cup run.

Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic is expected to play a key role, while Borussia Dortmund’s Gio Reina will provide the creative spark in attack. Worry for the US teams will be a real threat going forward, having scored 21 goals in qualifying.

England

After reaching the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup and then the final of Euro 2020 – suffering a painful penalty shoot-out loss to Italy – England will be determined to go one better in Qatar and finally win their first major trophy since 1966.

Gareth Southgate has some very exciting young players – not least Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham and Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka – alongside a handful of veteran stars who now have significant competition experience. It is now a question of whether they can go over the line.

Southgate will be hoping that Manchester United defender Harry Maguire can regain his best form ahead of the tournament after his struggles at the club level, while there will inevitably be a lot of scrutiny again on Harry Kane, who will likely get the chance to become his country’s leading all-time goal scorer.

Iran

Iran will appear in its third consecutive World Cup final as the No. 1 national team in the Asian region, capable of making an impression.

They qualified for the 2022 showpiece in impressive fashion, winning eight and losing just one of their final qualifying-round fixtures. It was enough to top their group, as they edged out South Korea, who also qualified as runners-up.

Porto forward Mehdi Taremi, Feyenoord producer Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Bayer Leverkusen threat Sardar Azmon from Iran’s strong attacking unit, but their coaching situation has been most focused on building. Dragan Skocic led them through qualification but was sacked and then rehired in quick succession in July before being replaced by former Manchester United tactician, Portuguese Carlos Queiroz. He is now in his second spell in charge, having brought him to the 2014 and 2018 World Cups.

Wales

Events away from the pitch meant Wales had to wait longer than most to book their place in Qatar, with the outcome of the final European play-off spot delayed until June. Wales finally secured their final UEFA play-off berth and their first appearance on the biggest stage since 1958 with a win over Ukraine on 5 June.

In 1958, Wales reached the quarter-finals, their only World Cup final in history.

Robert Page’s side has punched well above their weight in recent years, even managing to reach the semi-finals of Euro 2016 before losing to eventual champions Portugal. Gareth Bale and on-loan Fulham’s Daniel James will be key to their World Cup hopes.

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