Gareth Southgate has gone to great lengths to ensure the players have their "game faces" on.
Four years ago, England were semi-finalists in the World Cup, last year they were runners-up in the Euros and now the dream is for them to take the next step.
England have shown themselves to be very good at tournament football under Southgate and, despite not winning any of their last six games, the mood must now change from disappointment to expectation.
Southgate revealed he has even taken to flicking through Germany's Wikipedia page for inspiration because he wants to leave a similar lasting legacy and a sustained period of success for English football.
Three Lions boss Southgate said: "We don't lose a home game to Hungary 4-0 and expect to walk off without criticism of the result and the performance. That's my responsibility, I have to do that.
"But it is also my responsibility to remind the players that actually there is a lot they've done well and coming into this tournament, they shouldn't be focusing on the recent past.
"It is hard to talk about form because you are always six weeks, two months between games in international football so what actually is form? What there is, is pedigree.
"We want to be a Germany, who when I was looking at their Wikipedia page: four golds, four silvers, four bronzes, European Championships three goals, three silvers, three bronzes.
"Yeah, our Wikipedia page didn't quite look like that! But we'd love it if it did in 40 years' time and that should be our aim, to be consistently challenging."
That is Southgate's challenge this time. During his six years in charge, Southgate has turned a team unable to get past the quarter-finals or win a shoot-out into a squad which has broken down barriers and got closer to lifting a trophy.
This could be Southgate's final farewell as England manager and, during his reign, he has allowed England to dream again. Sadly, there will be fewer travelling fans to support the team because of the cost and difficulties of travelling to the most controversial World Cup in history.
But, again, Southgate insists his job is, while not forgetting or ignoring the issues, to get the players in the right mood for football, starting with a win against Iran.
Southgate said: "We have tried to do is excite them about going to a World Cup and that has been balanced about the topics they have been asked to discuss which are very serious.
"There is a lot of negativity around the tournament and I want them to understand the unique honour of representing England at a major tournament. This is what they have wanted to do their whole lives. We have tried to talk about those things, make it special.
"Obviously, the future king was with us last week to help endorse that which was special for everybody and then the work on the training pitch has been really focussed."
Southgate has stuck rigidly to a back three in recent times but, up against Iran, there may be a temptation to be more expansive and he insists the players are adaptable.
Southgate added: "We are always trying to find the best way with the players we have got of getting our best players on the pitch in the formation that gives us the best chance of winning.
"We have got players that are used to playing in both systems but also like every team in the modern game you play a system and build up in a certain way, and you defend in a certain way and you're rarely in the tactical shape that is written on the team sheet."
