Less than 18 months on from their Euros heartbreak, Gareth Southgate and England will jet off to Qatar this week in a bid to end 56 years of hurt at the World Cup.
The Three Lions fell at the final hurdle last summer as they lost out to Italy on penalties in the final of Euro 2020, which was delayed for a year as a result of the Covid pandemic. Southgate's squad will have designs on going one further in Qatar, though, as they gear up for next Monday's Group B opener against Iran.
England will also have to negotiate tricky matches against Wales and the United States in order to advance to the knockout stages, and they could lean heavily on a number of the 26-man squad that was unveiled by Southgate earlier this month.
