England confirm players will take a knee at Qatar World Cup

Gareth Southgate insists his England players WILL take a knee at the World Cup in Qatar, starting against Iran on Monday in their Group B opener. The team did not take a knee before their two most recent matches but will again return to doing the gesture over the winter.

The England players discussed the issue before training in the Doha heat on Sunday. And it was decided collectively that they will demonstrate their opposition to discrimination and racism by taking the knee.

Southgate said: "We feel we should. We think it's a strong statement that will go around the world, especially for young people, that inclusivity is important."

England's stars did not take a knee against Germany and Italy in September. And in the Premier League, players have only done the gesture in certain fixtures. Captains decided that taking a knee on regular occurrence was less powerful than doing so only at significant moments.

They did so on games played between October 8 and 16 as part of the No Room For Racism campaign. There are also plans to do so on Boxing Day and at the finals of the Carabao Cup and FA Cup. Southgate added: "Of course we understand in the Premier League that the clubs have decided to only do that for certain games, big occasions.