Gareth Southgate’s national side have some potential banana skins like Denmark and Netherlands as fixtures decided tonight.
England have been drawn into Pot One of the draw. This immediately helps them avoid some seriously difficult teams.
Portugal, Spain, Brazil, Belgium, France and Argentina are amongst the titan teams missed until at least the Round of 16.
But there are still some sticky scenarios ahead for England and here’s your guide on what England will want, and what they won’t.
I’ll go through the individual teams and then we’ll see who are the potential dangers, as well as what’s the most dangerous group
Pot Two
Pot Two has the remaining European giants, with Netherlands, Germany and Denmark all being potentially troublesome opposition for the three lions.
Switzerland and Croatia are also in the group, with Croatia having shown their danger in the 2018 World Cup semi-final.
Uruguay are also a danger, having dealt the fatal blow to England’s 2014 World Cup hopes.
However in the Euros, England have shown their strength against Germany having beaten them in normal time. England are in a better position now than in 2014, and so would likely make light work of Uruguay and Netherlands.
Bogey team Croatia were overcome in the Nations League Euros Group Stage, and so I believe Denmark poses the most risk to the current England outfit.
On the other end of the spectrum, United States are the softest opponent of the bunch, and England will be hoping to draw them, providing Rob Green misses a call up.
Pot Three
The third pot is a group of outlying teams that all pose a risk in their own ways. Tunisia shouldn’t be a task for England, but it took 91st minute for them to win last World Cup.
AFCON winners Senegal must be the deadliest of the group. Poland will always be danger as long as Robert Lewandowski can swing his boot.
On what England would want, Hakim Ziyech-less Morocco looks to be a toothless team and and safe three points in the team.
Pot Four
The final pot is the weakest in my opinion. It holds many non-footballing nations and the most dangerous has to be Scotland purely on England’s own ability to psyche themselves out of a game to a rival.
Canada’s strong qualification is also noteworthy in the lowest seeded pot.
United Arab Emirates is clearly the stand out in the most negative of senses, and any team be would wanting them in their group.
Final thoughts
While considering the worst group, the rules of the draw must be considered. Only one team from each region can be considered. The exception is Europe, who is allowed two due to the quantity of European teams.
Therefore, England can only face one team from each area, and so these are my picks for the best and worst group stages.
The worst compilation of teams has to be combination of Denmark, Senegal and Canada. The group combines the solid squad of Denmark, the different play-style of Senegal and the best of bad bunch Canada.
When you look at England’s recent struggles in tournaments, with Uruguay, Croatia and Iceland, the teams that knock us out are not the European powerhouses, but the underestimated and physiologically adept teams.
Scotland were almost worthy of an inclusion, but Scotland and Denmark can’t be included together, so the quality of Canada outweighs the home discomforts of Scotland.
On the more optimistic side, United States, Morocco and UAE is the softest of groups, a team that even the meekest of recent England teams would struggle to embarrass themselves against.
The World Cup Draw is today, 1 April at 5pm.
