At the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar, England crushed Iran 6-2 in their World Cup first game. At his first FIFA World Cup, Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka scored twice for his nation in the 43rd and 62nd minutes.
Jude Bellingham’s header gave Gareth Southgate’s young team the lead before Saka and Raheem Sterling scored later in a commanding performance. In the second half, Jack Grealish, Marcus Rashford, and Saka doubled the score to give their team three points.
Iran earned a penalty in the allotted 10-minute additional time, which enabled them to score a second goal against the Three Lions.
Since FIFA forbade England’s captain Harry Kane from donning the “OneLove” armband and threatened to issue the striker a yellow card if he wore it on the field, England’s tournament got off to a rocky start.
This is the first time England have won their opening fixture in consecutive World Cup campaigns.
Keeping it rolling. 👏 pic.twitter.com/tnLlWTHLDZ
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) November 21, 2022
6 – England recorded their biggest ever victory in their opening match at a major tournament (World Cup/EUROs) and scored six goals in a major tournament game for the only the second time in their history, also doing so against Panama at World Cup 2018 (6-1). Assured. pic.twitter.com/OD0oNRxU5S
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 21, 2022
