Various media outlets are reporting that Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw will start for England in their World Cup opener against Iran on Monday afternoon.
There had been question marks over the selection of Harry Maguire, because he has not played much competitive football for Manchester United this season, with his final appearance for the Reds coming in the 4-2 win over Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup.
However, one thing that plays into the United captain’s hands is the fact that he has individual success in the last two major tournaments that he has appeared in for England, one of which where he was named in the UEFA Euro 2020 Team of the Tournament [Sky Sports].
This level of success can stand Maguire in good stead and he has recently been backed heavily in the press by his manager, Gareth Southgate who described Maguire “one of our best centre-backs” [BBC Sport].
With England expected to have a lot of the ball, it is no surprise to see the inclusion of Maguire as he also has an excellent partnership with John Stones, who have both been instrumental to helping England reach a World Cup semi-final in Russia four years ago and a European Championships final in 2021, albeit in a back three.
Luke Shaw also makes his return to the England line-up to face Iran, and his selection is fully deserved as he is having a brilliant season with United.
Ironically, this will be Shaw’s first appearance for England since that penalty shoot-out defeat to Italy sixteen months ago. Shaw has bittersweet memories of that day as he scored to put England 1-0 up at a raucous Wembley.
However, reports are saying that Marcus Rashford will start the game on the bench, which might come as a surprise given how well he has been doing for United, with the Reds’ number 10 scoring 8 goals in all competitions this season [Transfermarkt.com]