England really put on a show in their World Cup opener, beating Iran 6-2 and, after a concerning build-up to the tournament, Gareth Southgate certainly delivered. The Three Lions take part in their second group stage match on Friday when they face USA, who earned a point against Wales last time out. As day six gets underway we will witness all the action from Groups A and B as the second round of fixtures begin.
Here is everything you need to know about Friday’s fixtures.
Wales v Iran - Group B
Where: Al Rayyan Stadium, Al Rayyan
When: 10am (GMT) / 1pm (AST)
TV: BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website
Last meeting: Iran 0-1 Wales (Tehran, 1978)
Wales’ last result: Drew 1-1 with USA
Iran’s last result: Lost 2-6 against England
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
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, 11 Vahid 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: Wales showed their fighting spirit once again as they managed to conjure up an equaliser against USA in their opening match. It was their leading man, Gareth Bale, who scored from the penalty spot late on after defender Tim Ream committed a needless foul in the box. It was by no means Wales’ best performance, but considering this was their first World Cup finals match in 64 years, it was an admirable one. However, if they wish to reach the knockout stages they will need to claim maximum points against Iran, who will be deflated after their heavy defeat against the Three Lions.
For Iran, they need to gain a positive result against Wales or their World Cup journey will be at an end. Following their performance against England, there were huge concerns in their defensive structure, with the only positive being they found a way to score. There is a lot of doubt that their number one goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand will feature after his nasty collision with his own teammate against England.
Sportsman stat: Iran have not won their second Group Stage match at the World Cup in their last three appearances (2006, 2014, 2018). Their last victory came in 1998, a 2-1 victory over USA, who they will face on matchday three.
Betfred match odds: Wales 23/20, Iran 11/4, draw 11/5
Favourites for first goalscorer: Gareth Bale (Wales) 7/2, Kieffer Moore (Wales) 5/1, Sardar Azmoun (Iran) 6/1
Featured bet: Over 2.5 goals 6/4
To qualify from Group B: Wales 5/4, Iran 6/1
Qatar v Senegal - Group A
Where: Al Thumama Stadium, Al Thumama
When: 1pm (GMT) / 4pm (AST)
TV: BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website
Referee: TBC
Last meeting: N/A - First meeting
Qatar’s last result: Lost 0-2 against Ecuador
Senegal’s last result: Lost 0-2 against the Netherlands
Qatar squad: 1 Saad Al-Sheeb, 2 Ro-Ro, 3 Abdelkarim Hassan, 4 Mohammed Waad, 5 Tarek Salman, 6 Abdulaziz Hatem, 7 Ahmed Alaaeldin, 8 Ali Assadalla, 9 Mohammed Muntari, 10 Hassan Al-Haydos, 11 Akram Afif, 12 Karim Boudiaf, 13 Musab Kheder, 14 Homam Ahmed, 15 Bassam Al-Rawi, 16 Boualem Khoukhi, 17 Ismaeel Mohammad, 18 Khalid Muneer, 19 Almoez Ali, 20 Salem Al-Hairi, 21 Yousef Hassan, 22 Meshaal Barsham, 23 Assim Madibo, 24 Naif Al-Hadhrami, 25 Jassem Gaber, 26 Mostafa Meshaal
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
Preview: Qatar received an unwanted record after their World Cup debut. After losing to Ecuador, they became the first host nation in history to lose their opening match. It was a very flat performance from Qatar, which made the tie a snooze fest for neutral viewers. There is a severe lack of quality from their side and you would feel that their inaugural World Cup campaign is going to come to a premature end.
Senegal head into the game of the back of a late defeat against the Netherlands. Aliou Cisse’s side were largely the better team throughout the game but they couldn’t find a breakthrough against the Dutch, and the absence of Sadio Mane was clear. They certainly have enough quality to inflict a second defeat in as many games on Qatar. After going off injured against the Netherlands, midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate is a doubt for this one.
Sportsman stat: Senegal boss Aliou Cisse was captain of the Senegal squad that reached the quarter-finals in 2002 - their best performance in the tournament.
Betfred match odds: Qatar 5/1, Senegal 4/6
Favourites for first goalscorer: Famara Diedhiou (Senegal) 4/1, Boulaye Dia (Senegal) 5/1, Ismaila Sarr (Senegal) 5/1
Featured bet: Senegal to win both halves 4/1
To qualify from Group A: Qatar 16/1, Senegal 6/4
Netherlands v Ecuador - Group A
Where: Khalifa International Stadium, Doha
When: 4pm (GMT) / 7pm (AST)
TV: ITV 1, STV, ITV Hub
Referee: TBC
Last meeting: Netherlands 1-1 Ecuador (Amsterdam, 2014)
Netherlands’ last result: Won 2-0 against Senegal
Ecuador’s last result: Won 2-0 against Qatar
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
Ecuador squad: 1 Hernan Galindez, 2 Felix Torres, 3 Piero Hincapie, 4 Robert Arboleda, 5 Jose Cifuentes, 6 William Pacho, 7 Pervis Estupinan, 8 Carlos Gruezo, 9 Ayrton Preciado, 10 Romario Ibarra, 11 Michael Estrada, 12 Moises Ramirez, 13 Enner Valencia, 14 Xavier Arreaga, 15 Angel Mena, 16 Jeremy Sarmiento, 17 Angelo Preciado, 18 Diego Palacios, 19 Gonzalo Plata, 20 Sebas Mendez, 21 Alan Franco, 22 Alexander Dominguez, 23 Moises Caicedo, 24 Djorkaeff Reasco, 25 Jackson Porozo, 26 Kevin Rodriguez
Preview: Both these teams come into this fixture off the back of strong victories to get their campaigns off to a flyer, and both are aware that another three points puts them in an excellent position to progress to the knockout stages as group winners.
The Netherlands left it late to defeat Senegal and a lot more will be asked of Louis van Gaal’s squad as the tournament progresses. They need to create a lot more than they did against Senegal and they need to get goalscorer Cody Gakpo on the ball more as they may not be so lucky against other opponents.
Ecuador will be hoping that captain Enner Valencia’s knock sustained against Qatar isn’t too serious as, after scoring twice for the South American side, his importance cannot be overstated. His physical presence up front and his leadership is fundamental to the way they play and he would likely cause the Dutch defence a few problems should he be available.
Sportsman stat: The last time Ecuador won their first two group games at a World Cup was back in 2006 (2-0 against Poland, 3-0 against Costa Rica).
Betfred match odds: Netherlands 4/5, Ecuador 19/5, draw 13/5
Favourites for first goalscorer: Memphis Depay (Netherlands) 4/1, Wout Weghorst (Netherlands) 5/1, Steven Bergwijn (Netherlands) 6/1
Featured bet: Over 2.5 goals EVS
To qualify from Group A: Netherlands 1/40, Ecuador 4/9
England v USA - Group B
Where: Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor
When: 7pm (GMT) / 10pm (AST)
TV: ITV, STV, ITV Hub
Referee - TBC
Last meeting: England 3-0 USA (London, 2018)
England’s last result: Won 6-2 against Iran
USA’s last result: Drew 1-1 with Wales
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
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
Preview: England delivered an outstanding performance against Iran last time out. One of the most impressive aspects of the game was that there were five different goalscorers and Harry Kane wasn’t one of them.
USA had contrasting halves in their draw with Wales on matchday one. They looked energetic and sharp in the first before they switched off in the second. Goalscorer Timothy Weah took his goal well and caused the Dragons several problems down their left side. The Stars and Stripes will know that this will be the toughest test in the group but they know that a result against England puts them in a favourable position ahead of their final group match against Iran.
Sportsman stat: England have never won their first two matches at the World Cup in back-to-back tournaments in their history.
Betfred match odds: England 3/5, USA 5/1, draw 3/1
Favourites for first goalscorer: Harry Kane (England) 3/1, Callum Wilson (England) 4/1, Marcus Rashford (England) 5/1
Featured bet: Over 2.5 England goals 9/4
To qualify from Group B: England 1/100, USA 5/6
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject To Change
