The British teams in the qualifiers

Slovakia vs. England

The World Cup qualifiers are about to start! England’s first game is a difficult visit to Slovakia. But, we all know that when it’s up to qualifiers The Three Lions have rarely had any problems to find a place in the biggest international tournament. It will be really interesting what Sam Allardyce is capable of as a manager of England. The new head coach has surprisingly called in-form West Ham’s winger Michail Antonio, who is going to make his debut for the national team.

These two teams met in the Euro 2016 group stage and the match finished with a 0-0 draw. However, England have recorded 3 victories in the other 3 games against Slovakia. The Three Lions have scored 8 and have only conceded 2 goals in these matches.

• Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Manchester City), Fraser Forster (Southampton), Tom Heaton (Burnley);
• Defenders: Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), Nathaniel Clyne (Liverpool), Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur), Chris Smalling (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City);
• Midfielders: Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur), Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), Danny Drinkwater (Leicester City), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Adam Lallana (Liverpool), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Michail Antonio (West Ham United);
• Forwards: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool), Jamie Vardy (Leicester City).

Group F:

• England, Lithuania, Malta, Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenia.

Czech Republic vs. Northern Ireland

The Norn Iron will face the Czech Republic in the first round of the qualifiers for the World Cup 2018. The biggest omission in the team is Will Grigg, who is absent due to personal reasons. However, almost all the players who took part in the Euro 2016 are going to be involved with the starting eleven again.

Northern Ireland have never recorded a victory against the Czech Republic. The Czechs have won twice. There have also been 2 draws in the Head to Head battle between these two teams. The Norn Iron have only scored once in these 4 matches against the Czech Republic.

• Goalkeepers: Alan Mannus (St Johnstone), Michael McGovern (Norwich City), Trevor Carson (Hartlepool United);
• Defenders: Jonny Evans (West Brom), Craig Cathcart (Watford), Conor McLaughlin (Fleetwood Town), Lee Hodson (Rangers), Gareth McAuley (WBA), Michael Smith (Peterborough United), Tom Flanagan (Burton Albion), Paddy McNair (Sunderland);
• Midfielders: Niall McGinn (Aberdeen), Oliver Norwood (Brighton & Hove Albion), Corry Evans (Blackburn Rovers), Jamie Ward (Nottingham Forest), Steven Davis (Southampton), Shane Ferguson (Millwall), Stuart Dallas (Leeds United), Michael Duffy (Dundee);
• Forwards: Conor Washington (QPR), Liam Boyce (Ross County), Kyle Lafferty (Norwich City), Josh Magennis (Charlton Athletic).

Group C:

• Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Germany, Northern Ireland, Norway, San Marino.

Malta vs. Scotland

Scotland have never had problems in the matches against Malta. The Scottish players have recorded 4 victories in 4 matches against the Maltese. The last time Scotland beat Malta was in 1997 (3-2) in La Valletta. It’s really important for Gordon Strachan, his team to start with the 3 points, because the team is in a really difficult group, alongside with the teams of England, Slovakia and Slovenia.

• Goalkeepers: Craig Gordon (Celtic), David Marshall (Cardiff City), Jack Hamilton (Hearts);
• Defenders: Gordon Greer (Blackburn Rovers), Grant Hanley (Newcastle United), Alan Hutton (Aston Villa), Russell Martin (Norwich City), Callum Paterson (Hearts), Christophe Berra (Ipswich Town), Andrew Robertson (Hull City), Kieran Tierney (Celtic);
• Midfielders: James McArthur (Crystal Palace), Ikechi Anya (Watford), Barry Bannan (Sheffield Wednesday), Oliver Burke (Nottingham Forest), Darren Fletcher (West Bromwich Albion), James Forrest (Celtic), Kevin McDonald (Fulham), John McGinn (Hibernian), Matt Ritchie (Newcastle United), Barrie McKay (Rangers), James Morrison (West Bromwich Albion), Robert Snodgrass (Hull City);
• Forwards: Leigh Griffiths (Celtic), Steven Naismith (Norwich City), Steven Fletcher (Sheffield Wednesday), Chris Martin (Derby County).

Serbia vs. Republic of Ireland

The friendly match against Oman on 31st August 2016 will be the last one for the legend Robbie Keane, who has announced his retirement from international football. However, there are lots of quality players in the Green Army’s squad.

The match against Serbia is going to be very difficult for the Rep. of Ireland, but everyone in the team is optimistic about the eventual best result. But, The Green Army have still not recorded a victory against this opponent (2 draws and a defeat).

• Goalkeepers: Darren Randolph (West Ham United), Keiren Westwood (Sheffield Wednesday), David Forde (Portsmouth);
• Defenders: John O’Shea (Sunderland), Marc Wilson (Bournemouth), Seamus Coleman (Everton), Cyrus Christie, Richard Keogh, Alex Pearce (Derby County), Ciaran Clark (Newcastle United), Stephen Ward (Burnley), Paul McShane (Reading);
• Midfielders: Robbie Brady (Norwich City), James McClean (West Bromwich Albion), Glenn Whelan (Stoke City), James McCarthy (Everton), Aiden McGeady, Jeff Hendrick (Derby County), Stephen Quinn (Reading), David Meyler (Hull City), Harry Arter, Eunan O’Kane (Bournemouth), Callum O’Dowda (Bristol City), Wes Hoolahan (Norwich City);
• Forwards: Shane Long (Southampton), Daryl Murphy (Ipswich Town), Jonathan Walters (Stoke City).

Wales vs. Moldova

The semi-finalists of the Euro 2016 – Wales will start against Moldova at home. The Welshmen are also in a very competitive group, alongside with the teams of the Republic of Ireland, Serbia and Austria. So, the 3 points in the first game are from a great necessity for The Dragons.

These two teams have only met twice. Each has recorded a victory. The last match between these two teams was in 1995 and Wales won the game at home with the Gary Speed’s only goal in the 55th minute of the match.

• Goalkeepers: Wayne Hennessy, Owain Williams, Danny Ward;
• Defenders: Neil Taylor, Ben Davies, Ashley Williams, James Chester, James Collins, Chris Gunter, Ashley Richards, Paul Dummett;
• Midfielders: Andy King, Joe Allen, David Edwards, Joe Ledley, Emyr Hughes, Tom Lawrence, George Williams;
• Forwards: Sam Vokes, Gareth Bale, Simon Church, Hal Robson-Kanu, David Cotterill.

Group D:

• Austria, Georgia, Moldova, Rep. of Ireland, Serbia, Wales.