England beat Iran 6-2, in a strong start to its campaign in the FIFA World Cup finals in Qatam, in Group Two, on Monday.
And the England national team achieved the great victory thanks to the goals of Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka double, with a goal in each half, and Raheem Sterling and substitutes Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish. Mehdi Taremi scored both of Iran’s goals during the second half.
The referee of the match, Brazilian Rafael Clas, calculated 14 minutes of lost time in the first half, and 10 in the second, which increased to more than 13 minutes to implement a penalty kick that was awarded to the Iranian national team.
England came close to taking the lead with an early goal after Harry Maguire hit a header off the crossbar, before Blingham (19 years old) took advantage of a cross from Luke Shaw and hit the net with a perfect header in the 35th minute.
Eight minutes later, Maguire rose high for a corner kick and passed to Saka to add the second goal with a powerful shot.
Sterling met a cross from the right side from captain Harry Kane to score the third goal from close range just before the break.
The score became 4-0 by Saka in the 62nd minute.
Iran striker Tarmi narrowed the deficit for his country after three minutes, but substitute Rashford scored the fifth goal for England after his participation directly, then Grealish concluded his country’s goals in the 90th minute.
And in the 13th minute of stoppage time, Tarmi scored the second goal for Iran from a penalty kick, after returning to the video assistant referee.
The majority of the match’s goals came from great shots by the England players, which were characterized by team play and high skills.
Before the start of the match, the Iranian national team players refrained from chanting the national anthem, in a clear sign of support for the protests in their country.
And all the elements of Iran’s 11-man starting line-up were silent during the playing of the national anthem at Khalifa International Stadium.
With the players’ step, the fans cheering for Iran rose in the stadium, while tears appeared on the faces of some.
Four days before the match, the captain of the national team, Ali Reza Jahanbakhsh, had indicated that the issue of whether or not to perform the national anthem was being discussed, and that the decision would be taken collectively.
And the Portuguese coach of Iran, Carlos Queiroz, had previously said on Tuesday that his players had the “right to express” their opinions, but with respect for “the spirit of the game and the laws of FIFA … according to these principles and values, everyone has the right to express himself.”
The second group also includes the United States and Wales.