England Face Pivotal Week In Quest To Qualify For The 2022 World Cup Finals

Last summer, England came within the conversion of a trio of penalty kicks of winning their first major international tournament since the World Cup Final of 1966. After leading the Three Lions to the World Cup Semifinals in 2018 and the European Championships final this year, Gareth Southgate has his eyes firmly fixed on the World Cup 2022 in Qatar.

However, before England can even consider their chances of winning what promises to be a unique World Cup Finals, they need to ensure that they qualify for the tournament.

They have made a good start. Drawn in Group I with Poland, Hungary, Albania, San Marino and Andorra, the three Lions began their qualifying campaign with a 5-0 home win over San Marino at Wembley and then followed that up with a solid 2-0 win over Albania in Tirana.

In their third game, they found themselves level with Poland heading into the last few minutes of the game before Harry Maguire popped up to score a crucial winner and leave England with maximum points from their three games so far.

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Let’s now put Group I into more perspective with a look at the results of the games so far in the group, as well as the current table heading into Matchday 4.

UEFA World Cup Qualifying – Group I Results & Table

Matchday 1

• Hungary 3-3 Poland (Sallai 6, Szalai 52, Orban 78), (Piatek 60, Jozwiak 61, Lewandowski 82)
• Andorra 0-1 Albania (Lenjani 41)
• England 5-0 San Marino (Ward-Prowse 14, Calvert-Lewin 21,53, Sterling 31, Watkins 83)

Matchday 2

• Albania 0-2 England (Kane 38, Mount 63)
• San Marino 0-3 Hungary (Szalai 13, Sallai 71, Nikolic 88)
• Poland 3-0 Andorra (Lewandowski 30,55, Swiderski 88)

Matchday 3

• Andorra 1-4 Hungary (Pujol 90) (Fiola 45, Gazdag 51, Kleinheisler 58, Nego 90)
• England 2-1 Poland (Kane 19, Maguire 85) (Moder 58)
• San Marino 0-2 Albania (Manaj 63, Uzuni 85)

Table

1. England – 9pts (+8)
2. Hungary – 7pts (+6)
3. Albania – 6pts (+1)
4. Poland – 5pts (+2)
5. Andorra – 0pts (-7)
6. San Marino – 0pts (-10)

Group I Forthcoming Fixtures

Thursday 2^nd September – Matchday 4

• Andorra v San Marino
• Poland v Albania
• Hungary v England

Sunday 5^th September – Matchday 5

• San Marino v Poland
• Albania v Hungary
• England v Andorra

Wednesday 8^th September – Matchday 6

• Hungary v Andorra
• Albania v San Marino
• Poland v England

England Squad For Matchdays 4 to 6

Goalkeepers

• Jordan Pickford (Everton)
• Nick Pope (Burnley)
• Sam Johnstone (West Bromwich Albion)

Defenders

• Kyle Walker (Manchester City)
• John Stones (Manchester City)
• Harry Maguire (Manchester United)
• Kieran Trippier (Atletico Madrid)
• Luke Shaw (Manchester United)
• Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
• Reece James (Chelsea)
• Conor Coady (Wolves)

Midfielders

• Jordan Henderson (Liverpool)
• Jesse Lingard (Manchester United)
• Declan Rice (West Ham United)
• Mason Mount (Chelsea)
• Kalvin Phillips (Leeds United)
• Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund)

Attackers

• Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
• Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspurs)
• Jadon Sancho (Manchester United)
• Jack Grealish (Manchester City)
• Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
• Patrick Bamford (Leeds United)

There were a number of surprising omissions from the squad including Dominic Calvert-Lewin of Everton, James Ward Prowse of Southampton, Ben Chilwell of Chelsea and Mason Greenwood of Manchester United.

Matchday 4 – Hungary v England

Hungary have been a team in the ascendancy the last few years and they showed this at the European Championships this summer, giving Germany, France and Portugal very tough games and only just missing out on eliminating Germany.

England have not been beaten (excluding penalties) since losing to Belgium back in November 2020 and their away form is pretty good over that period. The countries have met 22 times, England winning 15, Hungary 5, with just two drawn matches.

Hungary have not beaten England since 1962, England winning 11 of the 13 games played since then, however on two of their last visits to Hungary, the home side has earned a draw.

They last played in August 2010, England winning 2-1 in a friendly at Wembley.

This is going to be a good test for England against a team that is developing nicely and it won’t be easy, but I am backing the Three Lions to get a big win here that will put them in firm control of the group.

Score Prediction – Hungary 1-2 England (15/2)

Matchday 5 – England v Andorra

If England don’t win this game comfortably, then it will be a poor display from the team. Andorra are one of the weakest nations in this competition and in the four previous games against England, have never scored a goal.

In reply, England have scored 16 goals in those 4 games, winning 5-0, 3-0, 2-0 and then 6-0. The two biggest wins both coming on home soil.

I think Gareth Southgate may well use the depth of his squad in this game and rest some of the key men ahead of the much more difficult game coming up on Wednesday, so I would expect to see some players that didn’t play a role against Hungary, likely the uncapped Patrick Bamford for example,  given more of a chance here in what should be a straightforward win.

Score Prediction – England 5-0 Andorra

Matchday 6 – Poland v England

England’s sole loss to Poland remains the 2-0 World Cup defeat in Poland back in 1973, a result which combined with the 1-1 draw at Wembley, meant England didn’t qualify for the 1974 World Cup Finals in Germany.

In 20 games between the teams, England have won 12, drawn seven and lost just that one match. No wonder Poland fans are probably fed up of the Three Lions!

The last ten games have seen eight England wins and two draws, both those draws coming in Poland.

The Poles have a world class striker in Robert Lewandowski, but he doesn’t have quite so much quality support as he gets for his club team and as such, if Lewandowski is kept quiet, then Poland can struggle.

That said, this is a tough game to come after a busy week and I think England will probably drop a couple of points here, but it should still be enough to keep them atop of the table.

Score Prediction – Poland 1-1 England