Injuries robbed him. He is still good, but his progress was stalled just as he was really on the up. I agree on your Dembele take - I never saw him lose possession. He was superb. Moyes' Everton had a good few; Baines (although did play a game or two for England), Pienaar, Cahill, Carsley, Jagielka. Even Leon Osman did a good job. Arjan de Zeeuw is another one. Never put a foot wrong for Wigan or Portsmouth.

Wales were poor. In the first half they didn't try to play, however I don't blame them for that as every time they ventured past the halfway line they'd lose the ball and England were off. As soon as England scored it was over as a contest. It was barely one before. Overall a good performance from England. 3 goals, although should have been more, subs got a run out, and first place in the group. Roll on Sunday against Senegal. After the 3rd went in I switched over to the USA-Iran game. I'm glad USA are through. They have a young, talented squad who work hard. Their undoing will be the lack of a goal threat. Iran on the other hand are a terrible advert for football. Diving, fouling, complaining, annoying the officials, dirty tricks all around. I'm glad that they are going home.

He's trolling as usual. Just ignore. He goes for whatever he thinks will get a reaction. Where has the Anti-American sentiment on this thread come from? By all means rag the USA in the Trump topic. I hope the USA wins today. It will keep the tournament alive over here, I know more of their players, and they don't play an ultra defensive style of football.

I noticed that. The Iran players were putting in some dodgy tackles. Trippier got one on his foot that looked painful. There were others too. It looks like Kane will be fit ESPN FC - Kane fit to play

Cheers. I also assume that as the 1 seed in the group England get first pick on kit.

I'm struggling to find out what strip are England wearing on Friday. Home or away? Anyone know?

Make your mind up. Iran have gone from a good side to a pub side in 48 hours. What happened to move your opinion? Oh yeah; England gave them a right beating. Pure trolling.

I was hoping for a real answer.

Why would it be? Game times? Teams?

I agree. The 32 team format pits seed 1 v. seed 4 in the first group game which offers up some iffy games. Qatar-Ecuador to open the World Cup is hardly exciting. As @Silas said, starting next weekend it gets interesting. Kicked off with England v. USA on Friday which is essentially a bank holiday over here. 2pm kick off. It's going to be great.

You'll be in for a surprise. World Cup 2026 will be massive in the USA. There are millions of football fans over here. MLS might not be the greatest standard but they draw big gates. Every stadium will be packed full for games. They'll do fan fests and the like.

Notwithstanding the notion that any England game is a potential banana skin, Iran are playing in a World Cup match where the players won't need any extra motivation. It won't be easy, but Iran is not a good team. Ex Man U coach Carlos Queiroz is their manager. He took them to Brazil and Russia. Left after 2018, then was reappointed a few months ago. He deployed a very boring form of defensive football in his previous tournaments so I expect Southgate is spending plenty of time on developing set pieces as Iran won't be strutting around like Brazil 1982 leaving space galore. The majority of the squad play outside of Iran. I don't know how bristled they are by the recent protests.

I have doubts that any of the boycotters will actually boycott. England have a winnable group. It's wall to wall football for the first 2 weeks starting in late November. Nobody will be able to get away from the coverage. The last 16 and quarter final games for England (if they get there) will be Fridays or Saturdays in December. Will there be that many competing Christmas do's? As I've said before; it's a travesty that the World Cup is in Qatar, and not in the summer, but I will still watch as much as I can as once a referee blows his whistle at kick off all politics goes out of the window and every player on the pitch will be trying to win.

You certainly have a soft spot for either Everton or Lampard. They will be bottom 6. Calvert-Lewin is out again for who knows how long. Without him they find goals hard to come by. Tarkowski and Coady at the back, with Pickford in goal will keep them safe.

It's the BRFCS way. On the whole this site is pessimistic toward the national football team. The oft cited reason I've been given over the years is that it's a Rovers forum first and foremost so why would people support the national team? England have nothing to fear, yet fans are used to failure, so it's easier to naysay at every turn.

Good point on Maguire and Iran. By all measures they aren't very good, the team hasn't been settled, and the country is currently in tumult. What's done is done, and I reckon it will be his last tournament for England. I made 1 change from my prediction the other week Walker in for Dier; Pickford Trippier Walker Stones Maguire Shaw Rice Bellingham Sterling Kane Foden

Southgate goes with what he knows. Tomori misses out, I've no problem with it. Like it or not, Maguire will play. Wilson is a surprise. Rashford somewhat, although he is playing much better this season than last. Maddison in is a reward for his form. Gallagher is an interesting one. He is mobile than Ward-Prowse but he's not playing at the same level as he was last year. Probably 5 at the back. I'm eternally optimistic at a good run. Argentina are unbeaten in over 30 games. Brazil, France, Holland look good, but anything can happen.

Blatter also came out with this the other day; ESPN: Qatar World Cup "a mistake". He's stating the obvious there. He knew at the time and went along with it for his own rea$ons.

This is the beauty of football; we all have opinions. Gomez missed WC2018 and the Euros through injury. He will get back to his best. Klopp rates him, he signed a 5 year deal this summer. White and Tomori come up often on here. I haven't seen much of either. I did see Tomori for AC Milan last month against Cheslea. He was at fault for a goal and was sent off. White has been displaced in the middle at Arsenal by Saliba. Southgate has given both of them about 5 minutes of game time. If you ask me, they aren't getting in. Gone are the days of England having the ability to call on Terry, Ferdinand, King, Campbell, Woodgate. Tripper, Walker, Stones, and Maguire will be playing in their 3rd tournament for Southgate. Shaw would have been but was injured in 2018 (and had been bullied mercilessly by Mourinho). Southgate likes that familiarity.

I don't disagree with your premise at all. I'm trying to think what Southgate would do, rather than what my ideal squad would be. I'd have Joe Gomez in. He won't make it but I really rate him. TAA as a wing back would be an interesting choice. I have no idea if he can play there. Klopp doesn't care as much about his mistakes as he makes up for it with his goal output. Southgate is much more safety first but that position may help him. I read a BBC article summarising Micah Richards' view on Sterling. He, like me, thinks that he'll start along with Kane and Saka. I'd have Foden in for Saka, although Foden is one who hasn't yet hit the heights for England. Maddison has been superb for Leicester, but I don't know if Southgate trusts him. Rashford has picked it up lately but isn't the player Man U and England fans hoped he'd be. Ignoring his legal troubles I wonder what Mason Greenwood would have looked like if he had played the last 12 months? I also think that Southgate will switch systems between 4 and 5 at the back.

@J*B Moving here to talk England players. Your England 11 in the Prem thread looked like more of a wish list than a potential line up. Ramsdale is flying for the current league leaders, but I seriously doubt that Southgate will drop Pickford. Southgate likes who he knows, Pickford has never let him down. Tomori and White will be lucky to make the squad. I think that TAA won't make it either. His defensive lapses have been far too numerous this season. Walker will be fit, it is looking likelier that James will be too, and Kalvin Phillips. However, none of them will have played any football so my money is on Trippier starting game 1 at right back. He is in fine form, and another who Southgate likes. Shaw will play at left back/wing back, who will back him up now that Chilwell is out? Southgate may opt to take only 1 left footer with Trippier providing cover. This was Southgate's last squad. 28 players. 26 are allowed in Qatar. Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson, Nick Pope, Aaron Ramsdale Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ben Chilwell, Conor Coady, Eric Dier, Marc Guehi, Reece James, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, John Stones, Fikayo Tomori, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker Midfielders: Jude Bellingham, Mason Mount, Kalvin Phillips, Declan Rice, James Ward-Prowse Forwards: Tammy Abraham, Jarrod Bowen, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka, Raheem Sterling, Ivan Toney Other players not listed who have featured for Southgate are Gallagher (Chelsea). Rashford. Sancho. Calvert-Lewin. Of those 4 I'd say only Calvert-Lewin has a chance. I said thast the team that drew with Germany would be Southgate' 11 for Iran with Pickford in for Pope. With wing backs I'll go; Pickford Trippier Stones Dier Maguire Shaw Rice Bellingham Sterling Kane Foden 4 at the back; Pickford Trippier Stones Maguire Shaw Rice Bellingham Mount Sterling Kane Foden

Of that 11 I reckon only 4 will play: Bellingham, Rice, Foden, Kane. Pickford is ahead of Ramsdale. White, TAA, and Tomori will be lucky to make the squad. Chilwell is injured. Grealish will come on as sub. Anyway, there is an England thread. Arsenal beat Chelsea 1-0. Potter has a job to do. Would he be willing to bring back Lukaku? It will mean changing the way they play but Chelsea need something. Newcastle hammered Southampton. Man U were well beaten by Villa. A day later I'm still wondering how City were awarded that penalty.

Elon Musk finally bought Twitter last week and it's garnering plenty of news stories over here. His first actions were to fire the CEO and other top positions. Reports out yesterday say that he's going to get rid of 50% of the workplace today. I have no idea what he will do with the company. From what I've read Twitter isn't a big money maker, so has be bought it for other reasons?

I'll give it a listen.

I finished Malcolm Christie yesterday. It was the best one I've listened to. I recommend it. A complete contrast from Ben Marshall and his nonchalance. It's a 2 parter, but worth the time to listen to. He's wellspoken and has a good story to tell. Recurring themes I've noticed whilst listening the podcasts are the unscrupulous nature of agents, the ruthless sometimes petty nature of clubs, and the selfishness of football managers.* I'll give the Owen Coyle one a miss. I'm not interested in what he has to say, regardless of the terrible job he did at BRFC. *after reading that sentence it is very pro player; not unexpected for a podcast interviewing former players. For some balance the podcast also illustrates that a good portion of footballers - especially during their playing years - are extremely immature, make bad decisions, listen to the wrong people, and have no idea that there is a world out there.