England national football team fixtures, schedule, 2022 World Cup qualifiers

England are set to kick off their qualification campaign for World Cup 2022 later this week and Gareth Southgate's Three Lions will no doubt be aiming to top their group. England will square off against San Marino at Wembley on Thursday, before facing Albania on Sunday and they then host Poland three days later. Here's a look at the England national football team fixtures for the month of March. 

England national football team schedule for World Cup qualifiers

England endured a rather disappointing Nations League campaign as they finished third in their League A Group 2. However, Southgate's men ended their campaign with a 4-0 win over Iceland in November. The Three Lions will now be looking forward to their World Cup qualifying campaign and potentially top their group as well, which is possible seeing the England national football team fixtures. 

England have been drawn with Albania, Andorra, Hungary, Poland and San Marino in Group I. Group winners will qualify automatically for the World Cup and the team which finishes second will have to navigate through the play-offs. Each team in the group plays the other five teams twice, home and away, meaning the number of England fixtures is 10 in the qualifying rounds.

England fixtures in March: Group I games

• Matchday 1 of 10: England vs San Marino - Thursday, March 25 at 7:45 PM local time (Friday, March 26 at 1:15 AM IST)
• Matchday 2 of 10: Albania vs England - Sunday, March 28 at 5:00 PM local time (Monday, March 29 at 9:00 PM IST)
• Matchday 3 of 10: England vs Poland - Wednesday, 6:45 PM local time (Thursday, April 1 at 12:15 AM IST)

European qualifying for the 2018 World Cup featured a record 54 teams, a mark that will now be surpassed by one on the road to Qatar. Russia are the extra side, having qualified as hosts for the 2018 World Cup.

England team news: TAA left out of England squad for qualifiers

Gareth Southgate recalled Jesse Lingard, Luke Shaw and John Stones to his squad for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers for March. Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins and West Brom keeper Sam Johnstone also received their first national team call-ups. However, Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold was surprisingly left out of the 26-man squad in the latest England team news. 

Southgate steered England to a fourth-place finish at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Southgate and his charges are now aware of what they need to challenge for the honours at the grand stage, but they'll have to ensure they qualify first.

Image Credits - England Instagram