After reaching the 2018 World Cup semi-final and the Euro 2020 final, Gareth Southgate's England get their much-anticipated assault on the 2022 Fifa World Cup underway against Iran, while Wales' first visit to the tournament in 64 years begins against USA. There's also a fascinating opener between Senegal and Netherlands on Day 2 of the tournament.
Here is everything you need to know ahead of Monday’s action…
England v Iran - Group B
Where: Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan.
When: 1pm (GMT) / 4pm (AST)
TV: BBC One, BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website
Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)
Last meeting: N/A - First meeting
England’s last five: Drew 3-3 v Germany, Lost 0-1 v Italy, Lost 0-4 v Hungary, Drew 0-0 v Italy, Drew 1-1 v Germany
England's World Cup record: 16th finals appearance (Best: Winners, 1966) Total Games: 69, Won 29, Drawn 21, Lost 19. Win percentage: 42%
Iran’s last five: Won 1-0 v Nicaragua, Drew 1-1 v Senegal, Won 1-0 v Uruguay, Lost 1-2 v Algeria, Won 2-0 v Lebanon
Iran's World Cup record: Sixth finals appearance (Best: Group stage, 1978, 1998, 2006, 2014, 2018) Total Games: 15, Won 2, Drawn 4, Lost 9. Win percentage: 13%
England squad: 1 Jordan Pickford, 2 Kyle Walker, 3 Luke Shaw, 4 Declan Rice, 5 John Stones, 6 Harry Maguire, 7 Jack Grealish, 8 Jordan Henderson, 9 Harry Kane, 10 Raheem Sterling, 11 Marcus Rashford, 12 Kieran Trippier, 13 Nick Pope, 14 Kalvin Phillips, 15 Eric Dier, 16 Conor Coady, 17 Bukayo Saka, 18 Trent Alexander-Arnold, 19 Mason Mount, 20 Phil Foden, 21 Ben White, 22 Jude Bellingham, 23 Aaron Ramsdale, 24 Callum Wilson, 25 James Maddison, 26 Conor Gallagher
Iran squad: 1 Alireza Beiranvand, 2 Sadegh Moharrami, 3 Ehsan Hajsafi, 4 Shojae Khalilzadeh, 5 Milad Mohammadi, 6 Saeid Ezatolahi, 7 Alireza Jahanbakhsh, 8 Morteza Pouraliganji, 9 Mehdi Taremi, 10 Karim Ansarifard, 11Vahid Amiri, 12 Payam Niazmand, 13 Hossein Kanaanizadegan, 14 Saman Ghoddos, 15 Rouzbeh Cheshmi, 16 Mehdi Torabi, 17 Ali Gholizadeh, 18 Ali Karimi, 19 Majid Hosseini, 20 Sardar Azmoun, 21 Ahmad Nourollahi, 22 Amir Abedzadeh, 23 Ramin Rezaeian, 24 Hossein Hosseini, 25 Abdolfazl Jalali
Preview: There might not be quite the same 'It's Coming Home' fervour around the streets of England right now that were evident 17 months ago, but modern history suggests one emphatic early result might change all that. All of the concern and hand-wringing over the results which led England to be relegated from League A of the Nations League in the summer will quickly be forgotten if Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham et al can hit form at the right time in Qatar.
Former Real Madrid head coach Carlos Queiroz is back for a third stab at leading Iran out of the World Cup group stage, and having led them to only their second win at this level in 2018 when they beat Morocco with an injury-time own goal from Aziz Bouhaddouz, he'll be hoping they are every bit as competitive this time around. In Russia they finished only one point behind group winners Spain, and similar performance levels in 2022 could well see them upset the odds and finally make it to the knockout phase.
Sportsman stat: England have lost their opening group fixture at the World Cup in three of their previous 15 campaigns, suffering a 2-1 defeat to Hungary in 1962, a 1-0 reverse to Portugal in 1986 and a 2-1 loss against Italy in 2014. Only on the latter occasion did they fail to reach the quarter-final, exiting at the group stage after a further 2-1 loss to Uruguay in Sao Paulo.
Betfred match odds: England 1/3, Iran 9/1, draw 7/2
Favourites for first goalscorer: Harry Kane (England) 11/4, Callum Wilson (England) 4/1, Marcus Rashford (England) 9/2
Featured bet: England to win to nil 5/6
To qualify from Group B: England 1/12, Iran 10/3
Senegal v Netherlands - Group A
Where: Al Thumama Stadium, Doha.
When: 4pm (GMT) / 7pm (AST)
TV: ITV1, STV and ITV Hub
Referee: Wilton Sampaio (Brazil)
Last meeting: N/A - First meeting
Senegal’s last five: Drew 1-1 v Iran, Won 2-0 v Bolivia, Lost 0-1 v Guinea, Won 1-0 v Guinea, Lost 1-2 v Liberia
Senegal's World Cup record: Third finals appearance (Best: Quarter-finals, 2002) Total Games: 8, Won 3, Drawn 3, Lost 2. Win percentage: 38%
Netherlands’ last five: Won 1-0 v Belgium, Won 2-0 v Poland, Won 3-2 v Wales, Drew 2-2 v Poland, Won 2-1 v Wales
Netherlands' World Cup record: 11th finals appearance (Best: Runners-up, 1974, 1978, 2010) Total Games: 50, Won 27, Drawn 12, Lost 11. Win percentage: 54%
Senegal squad: 1 Edouard Mendy, 2 Ismail Jakobs, 3 Kalidou Koulibaly, 4 Abdou Diallo, 5 Idrissa Gueye, 6 Nampalys Mendy, 7 Youssouf Sabaly, 8 Cheikhou Kouyate, 9 Iliman Ndiaye, 10 Moussa N'Diaye, 11 Formose Mendy, 12 Pape Abou Cisse, 13 Pape Gueye, 14 Moustapha Name, 15 Krepin Diatta, 16 Pathe Ciss, 17 Pape Matar Sarr, 18 Ismaila Sarr, 19 Famara Diedhiou, 20 Bamba Dieng, 21 Boulaye Dia, 22 Fode Ballo-Toure, 23 Seny Dieng, 24 Mamadou Loum, 25 Nicolas Jackson, 26 Alfred Gomis
Netherlands squad: 1 Remko Pasveer, 2 Jurrien Timber, 3 Matthijs de Ligt, 4 Virgil van Dijk, 5 Nathan Ake, 6 Stefan de Vrij, 7 Steven Bergwijn, 8 Cody Gakpo, 9 Luuk de Jong, 10 Memphis Depay, 11 Steven Berghuis, 12 Noa Lang, 13 Justin Bijlow, 14 Davy Klaassen, 15 Marten de Roon, 16 Tyrell Malacia, 17 Daley Blind, 18 Vincent Janssen, 19 Wout Weghorst, 20 Teun Koopmeiners, 21 Frenkie de Jong, 22 Denzel Dumfries, 23 Andries Noppert, 24 Kenneth Taylor, 25 Xavi Simons, 26 Jeremie Frimpong
Preview: Senegal head coach Aliou Cisse was at the heart of his nation's midfield on the famous day in 2002 when world champions France were stunned by Papa Bouba Diop in the opening game of the World Cup in South Korea and Japan. Two decades on, he has 100 wins to his name as the boss of the Lions of Teranga and many are tipping Senegal to have a decent crack at the knockout rounds in Qatar. A squad boasting names such as Kalidou Koulibaly, Edouard Mendy, Idrissa Gueye and Cheikhou Kouyate ought to be putting up a fight in a group which holds few fears beyond their opening game against the Netherlands, although the loss of Sadio Mane to injury on the eve of the tournament is a bitter blow.
Louis van Gaal's men will be pleased simply to be back at the World Cup first and foremost, having slumped from 2010 finalists and 2014 semi-finalists to failed non-qualifiers four years ago. The flamboyant coach departed the national job for Manchester United following their run to the last four in Brazil in '14, but came back out of retirement last year to return to a role which has seen Guus Hiddink, Danny Blind, Dick Advocaat, Ronald Koeman and Frank de Boer all come and go in between Van Gaal's stints. In 2022 his squad looks pretty robust in every position, and with a decent mix of youth and experience to boot. They're 14/1 with Betfred to win the whole thing. Just saying!
Sportsman stat: Memphis Depay's last World Cup finals appearance, in the 0-0 quarter-final draw with Costa Rica in Salvador in 2014, was his 10th cap for his country. If he appears against Senegal it will be his 82nd game for his the Netherlands, having played 71 times for the Oranje between their two tournament qualifications.
Betfred match odds: Senegal 9/2, Netherlands 8/13, draw 11/4
Favourites for first goalscorer: Memphis Depay (Netherlands) 7/2, Cody Gakpo (Netherlands) 5/1, Wout Weghorst (Netherlands) 5/1
Featured bet: Netherlands to score over 2.5 goals 11/4
To qualify from Group A: Senegal 10/11, Netherlands 1/9
USA v Wales - Group B
Where: Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan.
When: 7pm (GMT) / 10pm (AST)
TV: ITV1, S4C, STV and ITV Hub
Referee: Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar)
Last meeting: Wales 0-0 USA (Swansea, 2020)
USA’s last five: Drew 0-0 v Saudi Arabia, Lost 2-0 v Japan, Drew 1-1 v El Salvador, Won 5-0 v Grenada, Drew 0-0 v Uruguay
USA's World Cup record: 11th finals appearance (Best: Semi-finals, 1930) Total Games: 33, Won 8, Drawn 6, Lost 19. Win percentage: 24%
Wales' last five: Lost 0-1 v Poland, Lost 1-2 v Belgium, Lost 2-3 v Netherlands, Drew 1-1 v Belgium, Lost 1-2 v Netherlands
Wales' World Cup record: Second finals appearance (Best: Quarter-finals, 1958) Total Games: 5, Won 1, Drawn 3, Lost 1. Win percentage: 20%
USA squad: 1 Matt Turner, 2 Sergino Dest, 3 Walker Zimmerman, 4 Tyler Adams, 5 Antonee Robinson, 6 Yunus Musah, 7 Giovanni Reyna, 8 Weston McKennie, 9 Jesus Ferreira, 10 Christian Pulisic, 11 Brenden Aaronson, 12 Ethan Horvath, 13 Tim Ream, 14 Luca de la Torre, 15 Aaron Long, 16 Jordan Morris, 17 Cristian Roldan, 18 Shaq Moore, 19 Haji Wright, 20 Cameron Carter-Vickers, 21 Timothy Weah, 22 DeAndre Yedlin, 23 Kellyn Acosta, 24 Josh Sargent, 25 Sean Johnson, 26 Joe Scally
Wales squad: 1 Wayne Hennessey, 2 Chris Gunter, 3 Neco Williams, 4 Ben Davies, 5 Chris Mepham, 6 Joe Rodon, 7 Joe Allen, 8 Harry Wilson, 9 Brennan Johnson, 10 Aaron Ramsey, 11 Gareth Bale, 12 Danny Ward, 13 Kieffer Moore, 14 Connor Roberts, 15 Ethan Ampadu, 16 Joe Morrell, 17 Tom Lockyer, 18 Jonny Williams, 19 Mark Harris, 20 Daniel James, 21 Adam Davies, 22 Sorba Thomas, 23 Dylan Levitt, 24 Ben Cabango, 25 Rubin Colwill, 26 Matthew Smith
Preview: After their failure to qualify for 2018 after having appeared in the previous seven finals, the USMNT are back where they arguably belong in the World Cup finals. But while Gregg Berhalter boasts some very well-known faces among his squad, this is not a team bursting with years of top-level international experience. Fulham's Tim Ream is the only outfield player over the age of 30, and Christian Pulisic is their most capped player with 52 despite still only being 24. Besides Pulisic they also have well-known names such as Weston McKennie, Gio Reyna and Timothy Weah but there are no guarantees that they'll take to World Cup leadership.
If you didn't already know, this is Wales' first World Cup finals fixture in 64 years, and while it comes while the likes of Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale are still part of the unit, one can't help but feel they would have fancied their chances of significant progress far more in 2018 had they made it. With Bale now 33 and playing in MLS and Ramsey having been shipped out by Juventus earlier this year these are not two players at the very peak of their game. But it does feel like there's a desperation within Rob Page's squad to leave absolutely everything out there on the field in the name of Wales' first World Cup tilt in a lifetime.
Sportsman stat: Wales' 1-0 play-off final win over Ukraine which booked their trip to Qatar was the Dragons' 118th qualification fixture since their last World Cup finals match in the 1958 quarter-final against Brazil.
Betfred match odds: USA 6/4, Wales 11/5, draw 2/1
Favourites for first goalscorer: Gareth Bale (Wales) 9/2, Jesus Ferreira (USA) 5/1, Kieffer Moore (Wales) 6/1
Featured bet: Wales to win and both teams to score 13/2
To qualify from Group B: USA 21/20, Wales 11/8
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject to Change
