World Cup LIVE: England squad in Qatar ahead of Gareth Southgate’s first training session | Football | Sport

England are due to hold their first training session this afternoon at their base in Al Wakrah as Gareth Southgate begins preparations for their opening clash against Iran.

The Three Lions are scheduled to train every day before their first game on Monday and will be acclimatising to the heat in the region, with temperatures rising to nearly 30C in the daytime. 

But Southgate is also keen to prepare the players mentally as well as physically after a gruelling first half of the season with their respective clubs.

“With the players we want to talk to them about the excitement of going to a World Cup,” Southgate said. “We understand the need to comment on the off-field things that surround this tournament, but we want the players to feel that enthusiasm that they’ve had since kids.

“We want to fuel that. The first couple of days we won’t be on the training pitch, bar a couple [of players] that will need to do something. We want them to transition from a hectic club schedule to thinking about England.

“We want to talk to them about the fact that this, whatever happens over the next four weeks, has been the second-best period for English football. We can make it the best.”