Tonight England will play fierce rivals Wales in the final round of Group B – where all four teams can still qualify for the knockout stages of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Gareth Southgate’s side are currently top on four points, ahead of Iran on three, the United States on two with Wales sitting bottom on a singular point.
England’s showdown with Wales (kick-off 7pm) takes place at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Qatar, the first time the two neighbours have met in a World Cup – with their last competitive fixture being a 2-1 England victory at Euro 2016.
In fact, one has to go all the way back to 1984 for the last time Wales beat England as a Mark Hughes goal gave them a 1-0 win in the British Home Championship.
However, there is much more on the line this time and Wales know they need to go all out in order to progress to the last-16.
After a 1-1 draw with USA and a 2-0 defeat to Iran, they will be eliminated unless Wales beat the Three Lions by four or more goals tonight – which would knock England out.
| England finish 1st if… | England finish 2nd if… |
| They beat Wales | They draw with Wales and Iran win |
| They draw with Wales and America and Iran share the points in the other game | They draw with Wales and America win by five or more goals |
| They draw with Wales and America beat Iran by a margin of no more than four goals | They lose to Wales by seven or more goals and Iran and America share the points |
For England it’s been a rather different story after they got the perfect start with a 6-2 victory over Iran, but things didn’t go exactly as planned in their second game.
Drawing with the USA 0-0, it left many fans unhappy with the performance given America had plenty of chances to even take all three points.
England midfielder Jack Grealish has called for calmness, especially when it will take something rather spectacular for England to not progress.
However, Southgate is expected to make a few changes to his starting lineup tonight as he attempts to keep things fresh in a 4-3-3 formation.
Jordan Pickford is likely to start in goal, behind John Stones, Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw, while Kyle Walker is expected to replace Kieran Trippier at right-back as the Manchester City star recovers from a groin injury.
Declan Rice and Mason Mount are expected to remain in midfield, but it is rumoured that Jordan Henderson will come in for Jude Bellingham.
Then there is expected to be two changes to the front three as Phil Foden and Marcus Rashford replace Bukayo Saka and Raheem Sterling, with captain Harry Kane remaining as striker.
It is important for Southgate to not make too many changes and risk defeat, as the Three Lions are not yet confirmed of first place in the group.
Being drawn with Iran, USA and Wales, it’s one England expect to top and not doing so will be quite underwhelming considering they were one of the pre-tournament favourites to win the World Cup.
For Wales, manager Rob Page is expected to select a similar starting lineup as their past two games but keeper Wayne Hennessey will not feature.
His red card against Iran means he is suspended for this game, meaning Leicester’s Danny Ward is expected to be his replacement.
In front of Ward is likely to be a back three of Chris Mepham, Joe Rodon and Ben Davies in a 3-5-2 formation.
It could then be Connor Roberts, former Arsenal star Aaron Ramsey, Ethan Ampadu, Joe Allen and Neco Williams in the five behind a front two of skipper Gareth Bale and Kieffer Moore.
