England’s World Cup campaign kicked off with a resounding victory over Iran in Doha.
The game took place against the backdrop of more off-field controversy here in Qatar, as England was forced to abandon plans to wear the OneLove armband, which promotes diversity and inclusivity after Fifa threatened to caution players if they did so.
Gareth Southgate’s side cruised to victory, with Iran’s hopeless situation exacerbated by the early loss of goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand to concussion following a collision with a teammate.
England kicked off their World Cup campaign with a soaring header from Luke Shaw’s cross 10 minutes before halftime, and the game was wrapped up before halftime thanks to Saka’s fine strike and Raheem Sterling’s classy volley with the outside of his foot from Harry Kane’s cross.
Iran’s fans were treated to a real treat when Mehdi Taremi scored after 65 minutes, but England responded ruthlessly with Saka scoring his second and substitute Marcus Rashford scoring with his first involvement – both smooth, composed strikes.
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To cap off an utterly dominant performance, Jack Grealish slotted home from close range following a good run and pullback by Callum Wilson.
Iran did pull one back in injury time when Taremi converted a penalty after a foul by John Stones.
Source: BBC Sport
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