• England kicked off their World Cup campaign with a stunning 6-2 Group B victory
• Saka’s second goal allowed England to ease off the gas
• After Callum Wilson’s run and cross from the right before Taremi’s last-second penalty kick

In a timely return to form for Gareth Southgate’s team, England kicked off their World Cup campaign with a stunning 6-2 Group B victory on Monday, rattling goals past a shell-shocked Iran.

England entered the competition winless in six games, but a thrilling first half in which Jude Bellingham scored his first goal for England, Bukayo Saka doubled the advantage, and Raheem Sterling scored a third goal set up a second-half walk.

After the break, Saka’s second goal allowed England to ease off the gas, which allowed Iran’s Mehdi Taremi to score a goal to tie the score. Substitutes Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish then added two more goals to complete England’s scoring.

After a VAR review for a tiny shirt tug, Iran’s Taremi was awarded another penalty kick in the 13th minute of stoppage time, but England’s task was already complete.

“We haven’t played the best coming into the tournament. There was a lot of talk and speculation about our form but we showed everyone how much quality we have and what we can do,” Saka, whose final major competition was the Euro 2020 final shootout where he missed a penalty, remarked.

Off-pitch problems
The buildup to the game was overshadowed by matters off the field at a World Cup where politics have predominated, despite FIFA’s insistence that the football should be allowed to speak for itself.

When FIFA stated that anybody sporting the multicoloured emblem of diversity and inclusion could receive a booking, England’s captain Harry Kane abandoned his plans to wear a “One Love” armband. Instead, the striker chose a “No Discrimination” armband that had been allowed by FIFA.

The players stood stony-faced and silent as the Iranian national anthem played in the stadium despite rumours that they would utilise the opportunity to support anti-government demonstrations taking place at home.

In due course, the game took centre stage, and England soon hit top gear.

They benefited when influential Iranian goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand was pulled off the field after 20 minutes due to a disgusting head-to-head collision with a teammate, and they made the most of the opportunity.

With his engine purring like a Rolls-Royce in the engine room and his opening goal setting England on their way at Khalifa International Stadium, England’s 19-year-old midfielder Bellingham demonstrated why some of Europe’s top clubs have him in their eyes.

In the 35th minute, Bellingham, who had timed his run perfectly, rose to meet Luke Shaw’s cross from the left and sent a looping header over the goalkeeper and into the top corner to become the first player born in or after 2000 to score at the World Cup.

Again, Shaw was the creator of England’s second goal. Harry Maguire headed Shaw’s corner back across the area to Saka, who beautifully volleyed it into the top corner.

After Sterling added a third goal and Bellingham once more contributed to the buildup, Harry Kane’s pass was volleyed in by Sterling, thus ending the game as a battle.

However, Saka scored his second in the 62nd minute to give England one more goal.

Due to his inconsistent play for Chelsea, Sterling’s spot in the team had come under question. However, he turned in midfield and fed Saka, who jinked inside and then outside before dropping his shoulder and neatly putting the ball in the bottom corner.

Iran equalised when Vahid Amiri fed Taremi, who blasted the ball into the top corner past England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. Rashford, who was substituted in the 70th minute as part of a flurry of England substitutions, then cut inside a defender and scored his team’s fifth goal shortly after.

After Callum Wilson’s run and cross from the right before Taremi’s last-second penalty kick, England’s Grealish scored their sixth goal from close range in the 90th minute. On Friday, when Iran plays Wales, they will play the United States.

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