Four years after reaching the semi-finals of the World Cup Finals and just over a year since they were beaten finalists at Euro 2020, England’s latest bid for a major tournament win gets underway on Monday.
After strolling through the qualification process, Gareth Southgate’s side will look to move on from a poor run of form in recent Nations League and friendly fixtures when they face Iran in their opening Group B fixture. The Three Lions manager has several big calls to make ahead of the game after finalising his 26-man squad just under two weeks ago.
The form of a number of his regular favourites have been called into question and that has led to speculation Southgate could make some surprise calls when his starting eleven is officially confirmed at lunchtime on Monday.
3AddedMinutes gives our take on how we see the Three Lions lining up at the Khalifa International Stadium as their latest attempt to win only a second World Cup kicks off.

1. GK: Jordan Pickford
A firm Southgate favourite and looks to have beaten competition from Nick Pope and Aaron Ramsdale. Photo: Lars Baron

2. RB: Kieran Trippier
Statistically, England’s most in-form player, Trippier’s reliability looks to have seen him edge out Trent Alexander-Arnold to claim a starting place. | Getty Images Photo: Getty Images

3. CB: John Stones
There is an argument to suggest Stones is the only centre-back guaranteed to start the game. Who partners him at the heart of the defence is probably the biggest question for Southgate to answer. Photo: Shaun Botterill

4. CB: Harry Maguire
Ben White, Conor Coady and Eric Dier have very strong claims to earn a starting place but Southgate looks set to go with what he knows and select Maguire to partner Stones once again. Photo: Shaun Botterill