Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka were among those on the scoresheet as England thrashed Carlos Queiroz's Iran 6-2 in their 2022 FIFA World Cup opener on Monday afternoon.
Group B
Venue: Khalifa International Stadium
The Three Lions dominated proceedings early on at the Khalifa International Stadium, with defensive duo Harry Maguire and John Stones seeing a lot of the ball in the opening stages of the game.
Early on, the pair saw a double penalty appeal turned down after they both seemed to be wrestled in the box following a corner from right-back Kieran Trippier. After a routine VAR check, though, play was waved on.
Maguire was then involved again in the seventh minute after a dangerous whipped cross from captain Harry Kane, but the Manchester United centre-back could not steer his attempt on target.
Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand clashed with a teammate while dealing with Kane's ball into his penalty area, leading to an eight-minute pause in action in the Group B encounter. The shot-stopper tried to continue, but needed to be replaced due to his facial injury, with Hossein Hosseini coming on for his teammate in the 18th minute.
The breakthrough was eventually found through talented Borussia Dortmund star Jude Bellingham, whose glancing header made its way past Hosseini to put Gareth Southgate's team ahead in the 35th minute, with Luke Shaw registering the assist.
Bukayo Saka then doubled England's lead with a left-footed volley in the 44th minute that deflected past Iran's goalkeeper, after Maguire climbed well before knocking the ball down for the Arsenal winger.
A minute later, Raheem Sterling scored a third for the Three Lions.
England started the second half as they finished the first, in total control of the match and without having to face any real threat on their own goal.
Arsenal winger Saka added a second to his tally with a brilliant finish in the 62nd minute, after drifting from the right side of the field into the box before coolly slotting the ball past Iran's substitute goalkeeper.
Three minutes on from England's fourth, Iran pulled one back against the run of play through Porto striker Mehdi Taremi to make the score 4-1, with his strike bringing up his 29th goal of what has been an impressive international career.
Gareth Southgate's side added a fifth through substitute Marcus Rashford, who had been on the field for just 26 seconds before finding the back of the net with a neat finish with his weaker foot to put the game well out of reach for the Iranians.
Manchester City playmaker Jack Grealish got in on the action in the 90th minute after being introduced in the second half, tapping the ball into the net following a fast counter-attack, with Newcastle United forward Callum Wilson picking up the assist.
Iran managed to score a second consolation goal through a converted penalty-kick from Taremi, after Stones was adjudged to have pulled an opponent's shirt in the England box.
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