The England squad spent a significant part of the eve of their opening World Cup 2022 game discussing whether or not to take the knee. There was some debate, as well as the need to navigate “Qatari politics, Iranian politics”, according to Gareth Southgate.
It again illustrated how different this World Cup is, and has undeniably played into a more muted build-up back home. Even this opening match is against an Iranian team that might have been banished from the tournament under a different Fifa regime. Gareth Southgate doesn’t think any of this is an issue for his players, though.
