England manager Gareth Southgate said he hopes to oversee a special World Cup for England where they go on to win the trophy and bring real happiness to the country.

At the last 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, England finished fourth after losing to Croatia in the semifinals before getting beat by Belgium in the third-place match.

The Three Lions managed to get to the final of the Euro Championship in 2021 at Wembley Stadium, only to be beaten by Italy on penalties.

Since then, England has had a woeful run in the UEFA Nations League, failing to make the championship round of the final four of the competition and dropping to League B for next season.

The team will start its World Cup campaign in group B Against the Islamic Republic of Iran on Monday and face the USA four days later, and Wales in the other two group stage matches.

While speaking ahead of the opening game on Monday, Southgate said that the team’s biggest challenge is to ensure that the supporters back home have a tournament to remember in Qatar, citing the economic situation at home and the difficulty people experienced in England as one of the reasons why the national football team hopes to bring happiness by winning the competition.

“Our challenge is to give our supporters a tournament that is memorable, Our country is going through a difficult spell in the middle of an economic recession, and life has been difficult for a lot of people. We want them to have a journey with the team that brings real happiness.” Southgate said.

England’s full WC squad: 

Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope, Aaron Ramsdale.

Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Conor Coady, Eric Dier, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, John Stones, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker, Ben White.

Midfielders: Jude Bellingham, Conor Gallagher, Jordan Henderson, Mason Mount, Kalvin Phillips, Declan Rice.

Forwards: Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Harry Kane, James Maddison, Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka, Raheem Sterling, Callum Wilson.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu