World Cup Group B Predictions & Picks: England, USA, Wales and Iran

Last updated: Dec 21, 2023, 4:58PM | Published: Jul 11, 2022, 6:28PM

The 2022 FIFA World Cup kicks off in Qatar later this month and Dimers.com soccer writer and former professional Vincenzo Pugliese breaks down each of the groups, starting with predictions and best bets for Group B featuring England, USA, Wales and Iran. As a wise-man once said, "without data, I'm just another person with an opinion", so naturally we've let DimersBOT loose on the World Cup draw and the world's best predictive analytics model has simulated the entire 2022 World Cup over 10,000 times to identify which nations can win the tournament and which nations are just making up the numbers. Using the world-renowned Monte Carlo Simulations method, Dimers gives you the most wholistic view of the tournament and which teams are most likely to progress from Group B and reach the knockout stages.

Download your complete guide to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar below.

Group A Prediction: England

The English are set to head into the upcoming FIFA World Cup with what appeared, not so long ago, to be a golden generation of talent and an aggressive manager in Gareth Southgate.

The English had recently drifted away from what felt like a never-ending run of mediocre performances on the big stage. After impressive showings at both Russia 2018 and Euro 2020, the Group B favorites will be expected to roar into the Round of 16.

One thing that won’t be missing from Southgate’s squad is goals, which are practically guaranteed with the presence of captain and talisman, Harry Kane.

The 2018 World Cup Golden Boot winner will be hoping to end a 56-year World Cup title drought for the Three Lions.

Another player that will surely rise to the occasion is incoming Chelsea player, Raheem Sterling, who will turn 28 in Qatar.

Accompanied by the likes of Phil Foden and Mason Mount in the offensive-third, Sterling and the Three Lions will have great creative talent in front of goal.

Southgate, the man with the most critiqued job in football, has, on multiple occasions, been presented with the question regarding their teams back-line set-up.

Given England's surplus of talented fullbacks, Southgate has been known to experiment with a back-four as well as 3-4-3 formation.

The likes of Kyle Walker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luke Shaw and Kierann Trippier will be amongst some of the incredible left and right back talent that Southgate will have the luxury to choose from.

As heavy Group B favorites, England will head into Qatar 2022 with -250 odds of winning Group B and are +800 odds of winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup, with a 10.1% chance of doing so according to the over 10,000 simulations Dimers ran for the tournament.

MORE: World Cup Match Predictions

Group A Prediction: USA

The United States return to football's showpiece event with a vibrant young core as they prepare to erase the dreadful embarrassment of failing to qualify for 2018. After winning both the CONCACAF Nations League and 2021 Gold Cup last summer, the Stars and Stripes will head into the upcoming FIFA World Cup as the top-ranked team from North America.

At the forefront of it all, this young new group will be led out by Captain America himself, Christian Pulisic.

As the successor to Landon Donovan, Pulisic will come under plenty of scrutiny in Qatar, with a big weight resting upon his shoulders in order for the nation to progress from Group B.

The U.S arrive in Qatar with one of the youngest squads in the tournament, at an average age of just 24.

Alongside Pulisic, some fresh faces will also carry some of the load, especially in midfield with the likes of Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams and Gio Reyna all looking to make their mark.

Gregg Berhalter will be working with a list of guys who have recently flirted with Europe’s most elite clubs, including 12 different players who have participated in the last two editions of the UEFA Champions League.

The recent rise of Americans playing in Europe has gone hand-and-hand with the rebuilding of U.S Soccer, following their failure to qualify for Russia 2018.

Part of that rebuild included bringing in Head Coach Berhalter, who has implemented a sense of style and identity back into the red, white and blue.

Berhalter has also instilled resilience into this youthful squad that resembles that Jurgen Klinsmann squad that managed to advance from the ‘Group of Death’ back in 2014 in Brazil.

Despite England being the favorites in Group B, a close eye will be kept on the Americans, who beat the English way back in 1950 and also took a point off them in 2010.

The U.S will head into Qatar 2022 with +110 odds of advancing to the Round of 16, and with a probability of 44% according to the Dimers super computer.

Group A Prediction: Iran

Iran heads into its third consecutive FIFA World Cup as the highest ranked Asian team. Carlos Queiroz’s team qualified for Qatar in emphatic style under former coach Dragan Skocic, only to fire Skocic on July 11 and replace him with Queiroz. The eight wins throughout their AFC qualification process would prove enough for Iran to finish top of their group, edging out South Korea, who also qualified as runners-up.

Scoring 15 times in their 10 final-round qualifying matches, Iran will be a threat with the likes of Porto forward Mehdi Taremi, Feyenoord creator Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Bayer Leverkusen man Sardar Azmoun leading the frontline.

The three-time champions of Asia, Iran is making their 6th appearance at the FIFA World Cup and they will look to finally break the curse of falling in the group-stages in each of them. Iran has only won two games at football's showpiece event, with a win against group rivals USA in 1998 and, most recently, against Morocco in 2018.

Team Meli will find themselves with backs to the wall in a tough group consisting of England, USA and Wales. This mission will likely prove to be too difficult for Queiroz’s men.

Iran heads into Qatar 2022 at +400 odds of progressing into the knockout rounds, the longest of any Group B team, with just a 30.3% likelihood of them getting there.

Group A Prediction: Wales

Wales qualified for Qatar 2022 with a pulsating victory over sentimental favorites Ukraine to secure the final World Cup spot and only its second appearance at football's showpiece event.

As a relatively small nation, The Dragons have punched well above their weight in recent years, including a trip to the semifinals at Euro 2016 and a Round of 16 finish at Euro 2020.

They will be without Ryan Giggs, who was in charge of Wales during their qualification group campaign, as the Manchester United icon stepped down following some personal scandal. Giggs claimed that he didn't want his upcoming trial on charges of domestic violence to jeopardize the team heading into their first tournament appearance since the 1958 World Cup.

The Welsh Football Federation appointed interim manager Robert Paige as the head coach after he led the team to victory over Ukraine.

Page will have the luxury of working with an experienced squad, led by none other than Gareth Bale. The 32-year-old ex-Real Madrid forward recently won the MLS Cup with Los Angeles FC and secured crucial playing time for his World Cup preparation.

The five-time European champion will be paired with fellow Welsh star Aaron Ramsey, and the attacking threat of Dan James. Mixed in with some Premier League talent across the backline, and the Dragons will prove to be a tough side in Group B with tempting +115 odds of advancing into the Round of 16 and Dimers has them as a 42.8% chance of doing so.

Did you know that you can simulate the World Cup bracket here and see how far your team can go at Qatar 2022?

World Cup Group B: Best Players

Harry Kane (England)

Christian Pulisic (USA)

Gareth Bale (Wales)

Sardar Azmoun (Iran)

Aaron Ramsey (Wales)

Weston McKennie (USA)

Mehdi Taremi (Iran)

Raheem Sterling (England)

Mason Mount (England)

Where To Bet On World Cup Group B?

All of the major US sportsbook will take bets on Group B at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Operators such as FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, PointsBet, Caesars and Bet365 will all be after your business during the soccer World Cup, so you will have access to a number of different welcome offers and sportsbook promo codes to get you off to a winning start. The best of these offers is the Bet $5, Win $150 from DraftKings Sportsbook. You can claim it here.

Betting on the World Cup is simple. All you have to do is create an account with any of the sportsbooks listed on Dimers, make an initial deposit, and then start betting. Think carefully about that first deposit though, as a lot of the offers allow you to leverage the amount you throw down for your first bet. A $100 first bet is going to get you more value than a first bet of $10, for instance.

World Cup Group B: Picks

Matchday 1 Predictions

England 3, Iran 1

USA 2, Wales 1

Matchday 2 Predictions

Wales 2, Iran 1

England 1, USA 1

Matchday 3 Predictions

Iran 1, USA 2

Wales 1, England 2

World Cup Group B: Predicted Standings

Country	Points
England	7
USA	7
Wales	4
Iran	0

England wins the group and USA also to advances to the knockout stages.

Download your complete guide to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar below.

Where To Watch World Cup Group B?

You can watch these Group B matches and every match of the 2022 World Cup on the FOX Sports family of networks. Fox Sports is the tournament's official English-language broadcast partner in the United States. You can also stream full World Cup match replays for free on the Fox Sports app.

Monday, November 21

England vs. Iran, 8AM ET on FS1

United States vs. Wales, 2PM ET on FOX

Friday, November 25

Wales vs. Iran, 5AM ET on FS1

England vs. United States, 2PM ET on FOX

Tuesday, November 29

Wales vs. England, 2PM ET on FS1

Iran vs. United States, 2PM ET on FOX

Vincenzo Pugliese

Sports Writer Vincenzo Pugliese joined Dimers.com in May of 2022. Vincenzo graduated from Rutgers University in 2021 with a Bachelor's Degree in Media Studies and Journalism. Vincenzo was a part of the Rutgers University Men’s Soccer team where he served as team captain his senior year. After that he played professional soccer in Denmark called VSK Aarhus. Upon his return, he earned his U.S Soccer Coaching License and became a Coach at Match Fit Academy and the Peddie School.