England-Iran Free Betting Tips
England captain Harry Kane has spoken confidently ahead of the World Cup opener against Iran, saying “We’ve had a good run in major tournaments so there’s one more step we can take.” The 1966 World Cup winners are more than 50 years removed from that fondly remembered triumph on the international stage, but have shown the desire for glory by reaching the semi-final of the tournament four years ago and the final of Euro 2020.
As such, England arrive as one of the favorites in the competition, with Gareth Southgate’s side having cruised smoothly through qualifying to reach this stage. England avoided defeat in all ten matches (G8, E2) while scoring 39 goals and conceding just three – that was the best group-stage goal difference in any European qualifying campaign (+36).
However, a dismal recent performance threatens to derail England’s campaign, with the team going winless in their last six matches (E3, P3), something that consequently saw them relegated from the UEFA Nations League. None of their four goals scored during that streak were registered before halftime, fueling criticism of Southgate of being too conservative with his initial game plan.
The chances were firmly against Iran to reach this stage for a third consecutive edition after ending 2019 with back-to-back defeats in the second round of qualifying. However, the pandemic allowed them to get back on track and make crucial changes, one of which was to replace coach Marc Wilmots with Dragan Skočić. Under his tutelage, Iran managed to win all four remaining games in the second round and eight of ten matches (E1, P1) in the third round.
Despite Skočić’s relative success, Carlos Queiroz was chosen to coach Iran at this World Cup and has had a good start to his second stint in charge, being unbeaten in his first three matches (G2, E1) before suffering a defeat in his final warm-up match against Tunisia during Wednesday’s match. He will now hope for a positive result in this match in Doha to help his side build momentum to advance from the group stage for the first time ever and give fans something to celebrate despite the ongoing troubles at home.
Players to watch: England striker Harry Kane scored two of his team’s four most recent goals and is looking to make history in this clash as he looks to become the first player to remain top scorer in two separate World Cups. No Iran player was involved in more goals during the third round of the Asian World Cup qualifying campaign than Mehdi Taremi (four goals, two assists), who also had two goals and an assist in his last three club appearances.
Fast Fact: England has scored 12 of its last 18 World Cup goals from set pieces.
World Cup trivia: This is England’s seventh consecutive World Cup appearance, which is its longest streak of World Cup appearances.
OVER 2.5 GOALS Odds: 2.00
The odds presented in the prediction may vary at the time of verification.
