World Cup 2022: Reasons for England to be confident of beating Iran at World Cup

Gareth Southgate's side are heavy favourites to finish top of a group which also contains USA and Wales, although the FIFA rankings suggest that Group B is the toughest of all.

It is the only pool at this winter's tournament which sees all four teams ranked inside the world's top 20, and England know that anything less than a win in their opener could put them on the back foot from the very start.

Here, Sports Mole looks at some reasons for England to be confident of picking up all three points and starting their campaign in triumphant fashion.

Iran's record

Iran's recent form should not be taken lightly, but when it comes to the World Cup they do not exactly have a record which will strike fear into opponents.

England have never faced Iran before, but the Islamic Republic have played European opponents on eight previous occasions at the World Cup and they have never won, losing six of those games and drawing twice.

Indeed, Team Melli have only ever won two of their 15 matches in total at World Cups - famously against USA in 1998 and then against Morocco in 2018 - and they have never made it past the first round of the tournament.

The underlying stats are arguably even more damning for Iran; they have the lowest goals-per-game ratio of any team to play more than 10 World Cup games, finding the back of the net just nine times in their 15 outings, while they have only scored more than once in a game on one occasion - that win over USA 24 years ago.

Of the 20 teams to have featured at both the 2014 and 2018 World Cups, Iran also registered the fewest goals (three), fewest shots (47) and fewest shots on target (10) across the two tournaments.

Recent major tournament record

Yes, the wait for silverware now stretches back 56 years, and the boys of 1966 still remain out on their own as England's most successful men's team, but there is no doubt that the Three Lions are getting closer.

A first World Cup semi-final since 1990 arrived in Russia four years ago, and they came within a penalty shootout of winning the European Championship on home soil last summer too.

A recent slump in the Nations League may have dampened enthusiasm a little, but England are the only European team to have reached the last four in both of the last two major tournaments, while only Sir Alf Ramsey can match Southgate's feat of reaching the semi-finals in his first two tournaments at the helm.

England are also enjoying their best-ever run of making it to the World Cup - this is their seventh time in a row at the tournament and 16th overall.

Crucially, they also have a prolific major-tournament goalscorer in their ranks, with Harry Kane bidding to become the first player in history to win the World Cup Golden Boot twice, having scooped the award with a six-goal haul in Russia four years ago.

Qualifying record

Much has been made of England's form heading into this World Cup - no wins in six games is certainly not ideal preparation for a major tournament - but their ill-fated Nations League campaign should perhaps be taken with a pinch of salt.

Four of those six games were crammed into 10-day period at the end of a relentless domestic season and, while two defeats to Hungary are more difficult to justify, draws against Germany and Italy are nothing to be ashamed about.

Of course, their opponents also went into that summer schedule off the back of a busy domestic season too, so that reasoning only goes so far, but Southgate will no doubt be looking to remind his players of how impressive they were during qualifying.

No team in Europe could match the Three Lions' goal difference during the qualification campaign for this winter's tournament, as they scored 39 times while conceding just three.

Admittedly, 15 of those goals did come in two games against San Marino, but their 10-0 triumph in particular at least showcased a ruthless streak which may be needed against what has been a stubborn Iranian defence in recent years.