Most people may assume England's World Cup opener against Iran will be a relatively routine one.
The Three Lions reached the semi-finals in 2018 before making it all the way to the final of last year's rearranged Euro 2020 tournament, and breezed through qualifying for Qatar 2022 with the best goal difference in the group stage of European qualifiers, scoring 39 and conceding only three.
Confidence will be high that Gareth Southgate's team can get going with three points, but a potentially tricky obstacle stands in their way on Monday.
Iran had an impressive qualifying campaign of their own, winning eight of 10 games in the third round of Asian qualifying and conceding just four goals.
They also sit 20th in the latest FIFA rankings, putting them above the likes of Serbia, Morocco and Poland.
Far from ideal as part of their preparations was a change of head coach just two months before the World Cup, with Dragan Skocic surprisingly removed and replaced by Carlos Queiroz to lead Team Melli in Qatar, shortly after he had guided Egypt to the final of the Africa Cup of Nations.
This will be Queiroz's fourth consecutive World Cup as a head coach – the longest ongoing run – and third in a row in charge of Iran after taking over for a second spell.
Iran lost 2-0 to Tunisia in a behind-closed-doors friendly on Wednesday, but Queiroz felt it allowed his team to be better prepared for England.
"Of course, the result is not good," he said. "We don't like to concede goals, we don't like to lose but [there are things] we need to correct.
"We had the best opportunities in the game before the penalty, we missed a few chances to score but the most important is the conclusions that we need to make in order to prepare for England."
Iran are one of 20 teams to have featured at each of the last two World Cups in 2014 and 2018 – of those teams, they have had the fewest shots (47), the fewest shots on target (10) and scored the fewest goals (3) in the group stages across those two tournaments combined.
Meanwhile, England's Eric Dier is not concerned about the high temperatures in Qatar despite the time of year, with the game kicking off at 4pm local time.
"I don't know what kind of impact it will have," he said at a press conference on Saturday. "I've never experienced it before, so it's going to be a first.
"This is normally a tournament which is played in the summer. In Russia [in 2018] it was hot. I wasn't there but during the Euros in England it was hot, so I think we're ready for that and we're playing in the same conditions as our opposition, so it's the same for everyone."
England are the only European team to have reached the semi-finals in each of the last two major tournaments, and will be hoping to start on course for another strong showing at the Khalifa International Stadium.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
England – Harry Kane
England's captain has understandably been integral to their last two runs in the World Cup and European Championship, winning the golden boot at the last FIFA showpiece in 2018, where five of his six goals in Russia came in the group stage.
Kane was also joint-top scorer in European qualifying for this World Cup (12, level with Memphis Depay), and his shot conversion rate of 36.36 per cent was the highest of any player who scored at least six goals.
Iran – Mehdi Taremi
The consensus seems to be that Sardar Azmoun will be the one for England to keep an eye on, which is fair enough given his 40 goals in 63 games for his country to date, though his lack of goals and game time at club level could cost him sharpness, having scored just once in 22 appearances for Bayer Leverkusen since joining in January.
On the other hand, his international strike partner Taremi has 13 goals in 19 games for Porto this season, including five in the Champions League.
Despite only playing six times, no Iran player was involved in more goals during the third round of Asian World Cup qualifying than Taremi (four goals, two assists).
PREDICTION
Despite Iran probably being stronger than many anticipate, England are still justifiably heavy favourites.
According to Stats Perform's AI model, the Three Lions have a 72.2 per cent chance of opening with a win, while the draw is rated at 18.1 per cent.
It would be a moment to remember should Iran pull off an upset, but Queiroz's men have just a 9.7 per cent chance of victory.
Postecoglou appointment at Tottenham marks 'golden era' for Australian football
Tottenham's appointment of Ange Postecoglou is part of "a golden era" for Australian football, according to James Johnson.
Postecoglou was handed a four-year deal at Spurs on Tuesday, leaving Scottish champions Celtic after two successful years which culminated in a domestic treble.
Football Australia CEO Johnson believes Tottenham fans are wrong to hold concerns over Postecoglou – who has been hired to replace Antonio Conte – even if the 57-year-old was not one of the biggest names available.
Johnson feels Postecoglou's track record speaks for itself and is certain he will succeed in the Premier League in an era of rapid progress for figures connected with Australian football.
"Australian football is in a golden era right now," Johnson said to Stats Perform.
"It is a really extraordinary development and Australian football is very proud of Ange.
"Ange has gone through every level of Australian football. He's played in the NSL. He's coached in the NSL with South Melbourne.
"He's coached in the A-League with Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory. He's coached all our national teams from the youth national teams, all the way up to the Socceroos.
"He's had success at Celtic and now to land a job in the biggest league in the world with one of the biggest clubs in the world is extraordinary for Ange and for Australian football.
"The Ange appointment is another example of the many great waves that Australian football is pushing out at the moment.
"We are seeing a lot of our Matildas [Australia women's national team players] who are playing at some of the biggest clubs in the world from Chelsea to Tottenham to Arsenal to Lyon to Manchester City.
"We are seeing players re-enter the Premier League again, like Harry Souttar did at Leicester. We are seeing many players who are transferring from the A-League into Europe.
"And we are seeing our Socceroos coming off the best performance at a World Cup that they have ever had.
"Then we are hosting the biggest tournament in women's sports, the Women's World Cup, in only six weeks’ time, so it is a fantastic time for Australian football."
Postecoglou will take charge of a Spurs team that struggled to eighth place in the Premier League and will not play in Europe next season, with star striker Harry Kane facing an uncertain future.
Conte was sacked in late March, with Cristian Stellini and then Ryan Mason taking temporary charge. Johnson is convinced there will now be a rapid improvement and an attacking style of play.
He added: "Ange is someone who understands football from top to bottom, he's coached that youth team level. So at Tottenham, he's going to have a great connection with the youth team.
"He's competed at the European level. So he's going to understand what it's like to juggle players who were playing both domestically and European football which a club like Tottenham do.
"He's going to understand the friction between national team football and club football.
"Ange is a total package as a coach and Tottenham are very smart to hire him.
"He plays very attacking football. He's one of these people that he won't have restrictions put on him, he'll go out and play his style against any opposition.
"I think that kind of positivity and energy is exactly what a club like Tottenham need at the moment when they probably haven't done as well, in the past 12 months, as people would have expected them to."
Johnson continued: "I think people particularly in Europe need to understand the Australian football is coming quickly.
"Ange at the forefront of that movement and will be successful in the Premier League. I'm absolutely sure about that."
Spurs have friendlies against West Ham, Leicester City and Roma lined up in July.
Ross McCrorie aims to build on momentous week by winning first Scotland cap
Ross McCrorie is looking to build on a momentous week in his career by winning his first Scotland cap during this month’s Euro 2024 qualifiers.
The versatile defender was called up to the Scotland squad on Monday in place of Celtic right-back Anthony Ralston.
The 25-year-old then completed a move from Aberdeen to Bristol City on Tuesday before flying out to Spain to join his international colleagues for a training camp ahead of games against Norway and Georgia.
The uncapped former Rangers player said in a City video: “It’s an honour for me to get called up.
“Personally I feel I have been playing at a high level for the last couple of years and it’s great to get that recognition now and get in the Scotland squad and become an international.
“Hopefully I can get a couple of appearances.
“It’s good coming down to Bristol City as an international.”
McCrorie, who has signed a three-year contract with the Sky Bet Championship club, added: “It was just a new challenge for me.
“I have been up in Scotland for a while now, I felt as if I knew the league inside out and I needed something to take me out of my comfort zone.
“They set out their plans and showed me a lot of ambition for the club. You see with the facilities it has got everything at the club to progress to the Premier League.”
Sheikh Jassim wants answer by Friday after submitting final bid for Man Utd
Sheikh Jassim has submitted an improved fifth and final bid for Manchester United – and wants an answer by Friday, the PA news agency understands.
The club announced in November that the board was exploring strategic alternatives to enhance the club’s growth, with a full sale one option being considered.
Current owners, the Glazer family, are said to value United at £6billion and the Raine Group was brought in to oversee the process.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim both publicly confirmed initial offers after the February 17 soft deadline for expressions of interest, then another by the second deadline of March 22.
That was eventually extended by a few days and Raine asked interested parties for their third and final bids on April 28.
Talk has increased over the subsequent 40 days that Ratcliffe and INEOS have emerged as favourites to take over at United, despite Sheikh Jassim placing a fourth bid last month.
Now the PA news agency understands the Qataris this week lodged a fifth and final bid, along with sending a warning that patience is wearing thin.
The fifth offer remains for 100 per cent of the club and Sheikh Jassim’s bid team have set Friday as a deadline to make headway in discussions.
While Sheikh Jassim’s offer is understood to remain after that point, the end of the week would mark the end of their ongoing engagement in the process.
This is a crunch period on and off the field for United, who won the Carabao Cup, finished third in the Premier League and lost Saturday’s FA Cup final in Erik ten Hag’s first season in charge.
Co-owner Avram Glazer was at Wembley for Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester City and ignored questions about the takeover as he left through the interview area.
Asked about the potential takeover and summer improvements, United boss Ten Hag said: “I think in this moment I don’t want to discuss that.
“It’s about finalising the season. We have to be quiet, analyse the season, go into the depth, then set the right conclusions and then take action. It’s about that.
“Of course, during the season you continually make your considerations and already some actions are into process.
“But, yeah, now the season is finished and the conclusion all over is we played a brilliant season.”
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