England manager Gareth Southgate admitted his side faces challenges after a poor Nations League outing as they build up to the Qatar World Cup.
England has failed to register victory in last four games.
England had suffer its worst home defeat since 1928 with a 4-0 loss to Hungary in the Nations League last month.
“We are looking forward to the World Cup, it’s what you build a team for. Like a lot of teams we had a challenging month in June. We looked at a lot of different players. We have to lean from that, we have two matches against Germany and Italy to prepare before we come here,” Southgate, who was in Doha to attend FIFA Team Workshop, said. England, semi-finalists at the last World Cup, have plenty at stake in the Qatar 2002. He said his team won’t have it easy against Iran, USA and Wales in Group B of the FIFA World Cup.
“Our group is very open and all matches are going to be very tight,” he said.
Less than a year after reaching the European Championship final on home soil to raucous celebrations, England was booed by its own fans after a heavy loss to an unheralded Hungary.
England coach also highlighted the passion Qataris have for ensuring the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 will be superbly organised. Southgate said preparations for the World Cup was going well. He said he was aware of the hunger for the success of the competition, and expressed that they can be part of that.
He said the visit looks to be a perfect opportunity to get to know all things related to their training camp here. He noted that he will visit a number of stadiums and training grounds. He also said that it was an interesting visit for him given he will get to know some of the developments related to refereeing. Southgate said he always looks forward to building a team that will be one of the favourites to win. He also added that Group B, where they play alongside Wales, US, and Iran, will give them an opportunity to reach the round of 16. He maintained, however, that all of the group’s matches will be closely contested.