England receive boost for Iran opener as players struggle in the heat

Maddison on mood in England camp ahead of World Cup

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The relentless heat experienced by the England squad in Qatar this week is set to ease up in time for their opening World Cup group stage match against Iran on Monday, according to reports. The Three Lions touched down in Qatar two days ago and trained for the first time on Wednesday, although the warm conditions were a far cry from the cold and rainy weather in England that the majority of the squad have gotten used to over the course of this season.

Temperatures in excess of 30 degrees Celsius made Wednesday’s session a difficult one for England, with all 26 players taking to the pitch at the Al Wakrah Sports Complex to ramp up their preparations for Monday’s meeting with Iran. However, the weather is expected to cool at the start of next week to provide a welcome boost for England’s stars, many of whom are yet to acclimatise to the conditions in Qatar.

Monday is expected to be ‘breezy and pleasant’ with highs of 26 degrees and lows of 18 degrees, according to The National, which should make England’s job easier against Iran as they look to begin their World Cup campaign with a much-needed victory in Group B. It comes after several England stars complained about the searing heat on Wednesday afternoon before taking on media duties following the end of their first training session in Qatar.

“It’s around 32 degrees at around 4.30pm and so it’s dropped down, there’s a little bit of a breeze,” said talkSPORT reporter Faye Carruthers on Wednesday.

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“Of course, the first England game is going to be played at 4pm local time so it will be around this temperature, I would say very late 20s. Earlier on it was 32 degrees and I’ve just been inside with some of the players in the media centre that they’ve created at the Al Wakrah Sports Complex and every single one of them said: ‘It’s really hot, it’s way hotter than we were expecting’.”

Although it is expected to be cooler on Monday, it could be a different story when England face the United States on Friday with temperatures set to rise again to around 30 degrees. However, the Three Lions will have plenty of time to get used to the conditions in Qatar by then, at which point they will have been based in the country for over a week.

It remains to be seen whether Gareth Southgate will be able to lead England to victory in their opening game against Iran, who were beaten by Tunisia in a behind-closed-doors friendly on Wednesday and are widely considered as the weakest team in Group B on paper. Southgate will almost have a full contingent of players to choose from in selecting his squad for the fixture, although Kyle Walker will not be available after ruling himself out as he continues to recover from an injury sustained in last month’s Manchester derby.

James Maddison could be in line to feature for the Three Lions, though, as he looks to stake his claim for a regular starting spot at the World Cup despite limping off for Leicester against West Ham last weekend. He insisted on Wednesday that he is feeling good and raring to go when quizzed on his injury status, although he conceded that he may need to do some extra work with the England physios in order to get himself into the best possible condition.

“The scan was a good scan and no major problem,” Maddison told reporters. “We have to tick a few boxes with the physio team. There might be a bit of extra work, separate work to make sure that’s right because I want to be 100 per cent if called upon. I’m hopeful I’ll be fine.”

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