England, USA, Iran and Wales will compete for the playoffs in Group B. Who will we see in 1/8?
The England national team reached the semifinals at the last World Cup, and at Euro 2020 reached the decisive match, in which they lost to Italy on penalties. If the trend continues, the Three Lions will take the trophy in Qatar. Everything can be, but at least they have to leave the group, and from the first place, since the level of opponents is too low.
The USA was able to overcome the qualifying stage, finishing in third position. At the same time, it cannot be said that the quality of the game was high, and the victories were convincing. The Americans made a lot of misfires, winning only seven of the fourteen qualifying matches. Friendly games also did not inspire confidence. We managed to win only against Morocco (3-0), and in the other three we failed to score a goal - 0:0 with Uruguay and Saudi Arabia, and a 0:2 defeat against Japan.
Iran is the main outsider of the quartet, which is unlikely to rise above fourth place. In the third qualifying stage, the Iranians performed very powerfully, winning eight victories in ten games, but he had top opponents, except for South Korea. As for the composition, there are no many familiar names there. Serdar Azmun stands out, but it's hard to say how he will manifest himself, because he began to get very little playing time at Bayer.
And - Wales. The "Dragons" must beat Iran and fight with the United States for second place. Everything will depend on the quality of Gareth Bale's game, but it is unlikely that he will give something special, because the peak of form is behind. Wales won the last victory over Ukraine in the decisive play-off match (1-0), and after that completely failed the group stage of the League of Nations, suffering five defeats with one draw and being relegated from the A-League to the B-League.
Forecast
England is the first place, and I will put the USA on the second. I will not say that the Americans are too good, but they are not even in the best shape more successful than Wales and Iran.
