England’s ‘leaked’ starting XI for World Cup opener with Iran - including Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs stars

England finally begin their 2022 FIFA World Cup campaign on Monday when they face Iran.

The Three Lions will be part of the second game at the competition after Ecuador sailed past hosts Qatar with a 2-0 win on Sunday. England will be aiming to top their group in Qatar, and on paper, this is the must-win game, given Gareth Southgate’s men have games against USA and Wales to play, two teams who are more talented than Iran on paper.

Though, Iran are not to be underestimated, working their way up to 20th in the world rankings, and that means Group B is the only group at this World Cup made up of teams exclusively from the top 20 in the world rankings.

Heading into the first game, Southgate has some big decisions to make, with the first starting XI usually giving fans an idea of the sort of side they can expect to see throughout the tournament, though perhaps less so with Southgate, given his preference of rotating formations to match opponents. What we do know is that Manchester City’s Kyle Walker and Leicester City’s James Maddison will miss the opener.

“Kyle Walker is a little bit short for this game but is progressing really well,” Southgate told BBC FiveLive. “We are ahead of where we thought he might be at this point. “James [Maddison] hasn’t been able to train since we arrived so he will not be able to make the game tomorrow.”

According to the Daily Mail, Southgate is sold on Phil Foden, who looks set to start, but he hadn’t decided on a formation as of late last week. In the case of a 3-4-3, Foden would likely join Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling in the front three, despite the disappointing recent form of the latter. Bukayo Saka and Mason Mount are said to have impressed in training, but Mount is only likely to play in a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 in this opening game.

Meanwhile, Saka may have to make an impact from the bench early on, given Southgate’s trust for Sterling from recent years. In the case of a 3-4-3, Southgate could go with: Pickford; Stones, Maguire, Dier; Shaw, Sterling, Bellingham, Rice; Foden, Kane, Sterling.

A 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 is likely to look more like: Pickford; Trippier, Stones, Maguire, Shaw; Rice, Bellingham; Sterling, Mount, Foden; Kane.