England comfortably brushed aside Iran in their opening fixture of the 2022 World Cup at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha.
The match was marred somewhat by more controversy as England abandoned plans to wear the OneLove armband in support of inclusivity because of FIFA’s threats to caution players if the statement was made.
England outclassed their opponents from the get-go, and things were made significantly worse for Iran as they lost their goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand to concussion early on after a clash of heads with a teammate.
19-year-old Jude Bellingham opened the scoring 10 minutes before half time, heading in a cross from Luke Shaw, and the ever-present Bukayo Saka made it 2-0 shortly after. England wrapped the game up before the break thanks to a classy volley by Raheem Sterling from a Harry Kane cross.
In the second half, England picked up where they left off. Saka, who was a threat throughout, cut inside from the right and slotted home to make it 4-0.
Iran gave their fans something to cheer after 65 minutes though as Mehdi Taremi pulled one back, but England were ruthless and responded by scoring a fifth – Marcus Rashford getting on the scoresheet with a cool finish almost immediately after coming on as a substitute.
Two more substitutes combined for England’s sixth goal as Jack Grealish finished from close range after a fine run and cutback from Callum Wilson.
In the dying embers of the game, Iran won a penalty after a John Stones foul and a VAR check, and it was Taremi again who stepped up to score.
“The first half was a bit sticky with the long stoppage for the goalkeeper, but we really used the ball well and our attacking threat was there for everyone to see,” England manager Gareth Southgate said after the game.
England were hardly threatened at all, and it couldn’t have gone much better for Gareth Southgate’s side. They made light work of Iran, and there were many good performances to admire and reasons to be optimistic going forward into the tournament.