Who is Rangnick tipping to win the World Cup?
Ralf Rangnick has offered his predictions for the World Cup finals and is tipping England to be among the strongest teams in Qatar.
The group-stage draw took place on Friday with the Three Lions pitted against the USA, Iran and one of Scotland, Ukraine or Wales in Group B of the competition.
Rangnick feels his home country, Germany, are among the contenders for the trophy but the unique conditions of a winter tournament may be of some benefit to Gareth Southgate's England, who should hopefully have several Reds in their squad.
During an exclusive club media interview with MUTV's Stewart Gardner, ahead of today's return to Premier League action against Leicester City, the boss gave his opinion on the biggest show on the planet.
Reds discover World Cup fate after draw
ArticleUnited's players will be involved in some exciting ties to look forward to this winter.
When pressed on his favourites for the tournament, Rangnick replied: "It’s difficult to say. I think England has a top team, yeah, they are definitely a team who could play a vital role.
"I also think Germany, with Hansi Flick [in charge], are in a good position now again, but since the World Cup takes place in Qatar and even if they [may] have air conditioning in most of those stadiums, it’s a difficult constellation, playing in the winter, having a World Cup break in winter in the middle of the season. So this is a completely new experience for everybody.
"It will be interesting to see," he admitted. "I think an advantage for England could be even that the World Cup is being played in the middle of the season because, in the last couple of years, not only couple of years, but centuries, I think the last time England won the World Cup was back in 1966. I remember that was my first World Cup that I can still remember, I was eight years old when this game was being played at Wembley against [West] Germany.
"It has always been a problem for England to play a World Cup at the end of a very, very long season with the most number of games to be played and, therefore, I think that the fact this World Cup is being played in the middle of the season could turn out to be an advantage for England."
The event kicks off in November with the Premier League 2022/23 season paused until Boxing Day (26 December), when it resumes eight days after the final in Doha.