World Cup 2022 Group B Team Guides: England

Nobody’s calling this the Group of Death. Maybe they should – it’s the only one in which all four teams are ranked inside FIFA’s Top 20.

Here is everything to know about England:

Coach: Gareth Southgate

Highest finish: Winner (1966)

2018 finish: Fourth

FOX Bet odds: +750

Key players: Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden, Harry Kane

What we’re excited to watch: England enters the tournament on a six-game winless run. Will its poor form continue in Qatar?

What success look like: A first final appearance since 1966 would be a triumph even if anything less than a title will be seen as a failure by England’s perennially unrealistic fans and media.

Achilles’ heel: Penalties. Even though England won a tiebreaker in 2018 for the first time at a World Cup, they remain 2-7 all time in the shootout at major tournaments, including last year’s home loss to Italy in the European Championship final.

X-Factor: Kane. The Golden Boot winner in 2018, his goals can paper over a lot of the Three Lions’ deficiencies.

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Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.