England could face a testing run to the World Cup final should they go all the way with clashes against the likes of France, Belgium and Brazil all potentially set to come.
The Three Lions enjoyed a dream start to their Group B campaign in Qatar as they dismissed of Iran 6-2. Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish all found the net for Gareth Southgate’s troops, who now go into Friday’s second group game against the USA in a confident mood of reaching the knockout rounds.
They still have plenty of work to do to ensure their progression but supporters are already getting excited - renditions of “Three Lions” commonplace after the final whistle against Iran.
Thoughts have already turned to England’s potential run to only their second-ever World Cup final but it could potentially turn into an extremely difficult route should Southgate’s men make it out of the group.
In the event of them finishing in top spot of Group B ahead of Iran, the USA and fellow home nation Wales, they would take on the runners-up of Group A. If matches were decided on FIFA ranking alone, that would see England take on Senegal in the Round of 16.
Aliou Cissé’s men have work to do to secure the second spot having opened up their campaign with a 2-0 reverse at the hands of the Netherlands.
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Should England find a way past the Africans then they could face arguably one of the biggest tests of the entire competition during the quarter-finals should all of the games go as expected. They would come up against reigning champions France, who were given a brief scare by Australia on Tuesday before running out 4-1 winners.
The assignments do not get that much easier from then on, either. In finding a way past Didier Deschamps’ side, England would then face Belgium in the semi-finals.
The Three Lions twice came up against the Red Devils in the previous World Cup in Russia both in the group stage and in the third-placed playoff and found themselves on the losing side on both occasions.
Should they manage to get beyond the Belgian’s this time and find a route through to the final in Qatar, then there is potentially another huge test ahead of England in the form of South American powerhouses Brazil. Tite’s side arrived in Qatar as one of the pre-tournament favourites and are currently the highest-ranked side in the world according to FIFA so it would certainly be no surprise to see them in the final.
Should those respective runs come to fruition then it would represent the first meeting of the Three Lions and the Selecao in a World Cup since 2002. England actually took the lead on that occasion through Michael Owen.
Rivaldo’s equaliser, coupled with Ronaldinho’s famous free-kick, saw Brazil run out victors in the day.
