(Football news) After an emphatic victory in their opening match, England will look to secure top spot in Group B when they face USA at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor. After a memorable high of reaching the World Cup semi-finals four years ago and then the final of Euro 2020, there is a certain optimism surrounding Gareth Southgate's squad. Their form had dipped heading to Qatar after a winless UEFA Nations League campaign. However, they bounced back in emphatic style as the Three Lions roared to a 6-2 victory against Iran which was their biggest-ever win in the first matches of a major tournament.

Bukayo Saka ,Jude Bellingham and Raheem Sterling all scored in a dominant first-half before substitutes Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish got their names on the scoresheet. Southgate took plenty of positives from his side's performance but was left "fed up" after Mehdi Taremi netted two consolation goals for Iran. England's boss has called for his players to be defensively strong and improve their focus against a "full-throttle" USA team. England have won eight of their last 11 meetings against USA across all competitions and have gone on to score 39 goals and they will be hoping to increase this tally to nine as they bid to move one step closer to the last 16.

After missing out on the 2018 World Cup, USA started off their campaign in Qatar with a 1-1 draw against Wales in a game they were leading until the Los Angeles FC star restored parity. Timothy Weah fired USA into a deserved lead nine minutes before the halftime whistle but Gregg Berhalter's side lost their spark in the second half. Berhalter has since been criticised by USA fans as the 49-year-old who briefly played for Crystal Palace, believes his team "left everything out there" and remains hopeful of progressing to the knockout rounds. 

USA have managed to progress from the group stage in their previous two World Cup finals, as in 2014 they finished second ahead of Portugal before securing top spot ahead of England in 2010 also. The last time they met in the World Cup the USA pulled off a memorable 1-1 draw against the Three Lions thanks to Robert Green fumbling a Clint Dempsey strike. The Stars and Stripes head into the contest unbeaten in their previous two World Cup meetings with England, as it includes a shock 1-0 group-stage triumph back in 1950. Similar heroics will be required if they wish to come away with at least a point.

England possible starting lineup:

Pickford; Trippier, Stones, Maguire, Shaw; Rice, Bellingham; Saka, Mount, Sterling; Kane

USA possible starting lineup:

Turner; Dest, Zimmerman, Ream, A. Robinson; McKennie, Adams, Musah; Weah, Sargent, Pulisic

Also read: Netherlands aim to progress into knockouts with win over Ecuador