An amazing start for England in a 6-2 win over Iran in the first game of their World Cup 2022 campaign.

England’s first match of their World Cup 2022 campaign kicked off with an amazing 6-2 victory against Iran on Monday the 21st of November, at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha City, Qatar. Thanks to Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish and a solid performance from the rest of the players, they can walk away with confidence for their next two group stage match ups.

 

 

 

 

 

The teams line up together to sing their national anthems.

Before this game, England and Iran had never played each other at men’s senior level and after it, Iran may be wishing they never meet again. The English didn’t have as much confidence as they could have had due to the disappointing performances in the last international break. But it turned out they had nothing to worry about as there was a significant difference in quality between the sides as England dominated in every aspect.

The game began with some early controversy as Harry Maguire and John Stones were both brought down in the box within the opening minutes of the game. Despite being looked at by VAR nothing was awarded. A few minutes after, Harry Maguire had a chance but didn’t get enough on it to guide it between the posts. A clash of heads meant Alireza Beyranvand was treated for around 8 minutes before he attempted to continue but it didn’t take long before he surrendered and was replaced by Hossein Hosseini.

England had a few chances but nothing clear cut until their youngest player, 19-year-old, Jude Bellingham’s brilliant header meant the ball hit the back of the net in the 34th minute, making him just the second teen to score for the country in the World Cup. That goal also caused everything to open up for them. It wasn’t long before a fantastic strike from another youngster, Bukayo Saka, made it 2 and Raheem Sterling’s stud poke goal made it 3. The announcement of 14 minutes added time came and they started to play out the remainder of the first half in a more relaxed manner.

Bellingham and Mount celebrate the first goal of the tournament for England.

Both teams emerged for the second half and England’s team remained the same while Iran made a triple substitution of Mohammad Hosssin Kanani, Ali Gholizadeh and Saeid Ezatolahi in an attempt to be more competitive in the next 45. To begin with the subs did not have an impact and Saka was able to slot away his second goal.

However, the England defences' hope for a clean sheet was destroyed when Medhi Taremi made it 4-1 in the 64th minute. Harry Maguire’s head injury inspired Gareth Southgate to use his talented bench and make a quadruple substitution of Eric Dier, Marcus Rashford, Jack Grealish and Phil Foden.

Within 2 minutes of coming on and just 3 touches of the ball, Marcus Rashford managed to score his first World Cup goal and prove exactly why he was called up. Callum Wilson was eagerly waiting to come on for the national team for the first time since 2019, and he finally made an appearance as he replaced Harry Kane in the 75th minute and made his impact with a very selfless assist to Jack Grealish in the last minute of the 90.

But it wasn’t over as the board showed 10 minutes to play and Iran were not finished. An excellent save from Jordan Pickford denied Sardar Azmoun a goal as it bounced back off the crossbar. While that shot was unsuccessful, Taremi’s penalty given by a very inconsistent VAR decision was not and the game ended 6-2.

 

 

 

 

 

Iran’s players celebrate after Taremi’s goal.

The England team will be disappointed with the two goals they conceded with Gareth Southgate saying, “we’re going to have to be better.” But there is still a lot to be proud of, especially for the younger members that this experience is an incredible first for, like Jude Bellingham who admitted, “it’s a really proud moment for me.”

Hopefully his, and the rest of the England squad’s success will continue throughout the next two games against the USA on the 25th and Wales on the 29th, and (fingers crossed) the rest of the tournament.

 

Starting XI

England: Pickford, Trippier, Maguire (Dier, 70), Stones, Shaw, Rice, Bellingham, Mount (Foden, 71), Saka (Rashford,71), Sterling (Grealish, 71), Kane (Wilson, 76).

Unused Subs: Walker, Henderson, Pope, Phillips, Coady, Alexander-Arnold, White, Ramsdale, Gallagher.

Iran: Beyranvand (Hosseini, 19), Moharrami, Pouraliganji, Hosseini, Mohammedi (Torabi 63), Noorollahi (Azmoun, 77), Cheshmi (Kanani, 45), Hajsafi, Jahanbakhsh (Gholizadeh 45), Taremi, Karimi (Ezatolahi 45).

Unused Subs: Khalilzadeh, Ansarifard, Amiri, Niazmand, Ghoddos, Abedzadeh, Rezaeian, Jalali