World Cup 2022 Group B – Players To Watch in Qatar

Host Carl Lewis and football writer Zach Lowy discuss players to watch in Group B.

Group B at the 2022 World Cup contains one of the favourites, England, alongside fellow home nation Wales, the United States and Iran.

Here is the list below:

England

World ranking: 5
Coach: Gareth Southgate
Confirmed 26-man squad:
Nick Pope (Newcastle), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Conor Coady (Everton), Eric Dier (Tottenham), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle), Kyle Walker (Manchester City), Ben White (Arsenal), Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Kalvin Phillips (Manchester City), Declan Rice (West Ham), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), James Maddison (Leicester City), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Tottenham), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Raheem Sterling (Chelsea), Callum Wilson (Newcastle), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)

Wales

World ranking: 19
Coach: Rob Page
Confirmed 26-man squad:
Wayne Hennessey (Nottingham Forest), Danny Ward (Leicester City), Adam Davies (Stoke City), Neco Williams (Nottingham Forest), Ben Davies (Tottenham Hotspur), Ben Cabango (Swansea City), Joe Rodon (Rennes, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur), Chris Mepham (Bournemouth), Ethan Ampadu (Spezia, on loan from Chelsea), Chris Gunter (AFC Wimbledon), Connor Roberts (Burnley), Tom Lockyer (Luton Town), Aaron Ramsey (Nice), Joe Allen (Swansea City), Harry Wilson (Fulham), Joe Morrell (Portsmouth), Dylan Levitt (Dundee United), Rubin Colwill (Cardiff City), Jonny Williams (Swindon Town), Matthew Smith (Milton Keynes Dons), Sorba Thomas (Huddersfield Town), Gareth Bale (Los Angeles FC), Dan James (Fulham, on loan from Leeds United), Kieffer Moore (Bournemouth), Mark Harris (Cardiff City), Brennan Johnson (Nottingham Forest).

USA

World ranking: 16
Coach: Gregg Berhalter
Confirmed 26-man squad:
Matt Turner (Arsenal), Sean Johnson (NYCFC), Ethan Horvath (Luton Town), Sergino Dest (AC Milan), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville), DeAndre Yedlin, (Inter Miami), Antonee Robinson (Fulham), Tim Ream (Fulham), Joe Scally (Borussia Monchengladbach), Shaq Moore (Nashville), Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls), Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United), Kellyn Acosta (LAFC), Tyler Adams (Leeds United), Luca De La Torre (Celta Vigo), Weston McKinnie (Juventus), Yunus Musah (Valencia), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea), Jesus Ferreira (FC Dallas), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund), Josh Sargent (Norwich City), Tim Weah (LOSC Lille), Haji Wright (Antalyaspor)

Iran

World ranking: 22
Coach: Carlos Queiroz
Confirmed 25-man squad:
Alireza Beiranvand (Persepolis), Hossein Hosseini (Esteghlal), Payam Niazmand (Sepahan), Amir Abedzadeh (Ponferradina), Ramin Rezaeian (Sepahan), Abolfazl Jalali (Esteghlal), Hossein Kananizadegan (Al Ahli SC), Shoja Khalilzadeh (Al Ahli SC), Mortza Pouraliganji (Persepolis), Majid Hosseini (Kayserispor), Sadegh Moharrami (Dinamo Zagreb), Milad Mohammadi (AEK), Ehsan Hajisafi (AEK), Saeid Ezatolahi (Vejle Boldklub), Ahmad Nourollahi (Shabab Al Ahli), Ali Karimi (Kayserispor), Rouzbeh Cheshmi (Esteghlal), Vahid Amiri (Persepolis), Mehdi Torabi (Persepolis), Alireza Jahanbakhsh (Feyenoord), Ali Gholizadeh (Charleroi), Saman Ghoddos (Brentford), Sardar Azmoun (Bayer Leverkusen), Karim Ansarifard (Omonia), Mehdi Taremi (Porto)
Iran are the underdogs of Group B but, ranked 20th in the world, they are only one place below Wales and heading to their third-successive finals. Sixteen of the players in their most recent squad played in Russia in 2018. The players recently voiced their support for protests over the death of Mahsa Amini while she was being held by ‘morality police’. It remains to be seen if the squad will continue those protests in Qatar.