England’s Fifa World Cup campaign opened in thoroughly convincing fashion as they outclassed Iran in an incident-packed match in Doha.
Gareth Southgate’s side strolled to victory, with Iran’s hopeless plight made worse by the early loss of their goalkeeper to concussion after a clash of heads with a team-mate.
Jude Bellingham got England off the mark in this World Cup with a soaring header from Luke Shaw’s cross 10 minutes before the break and the game was wrapped up before half-time thanks to Bukayo Saka’s fine strike and Raheem Sterling’s classy volley with the outside of his foot from Harry Kane’s cross.
The game was played out against the backdrop of more off-field controversy here in Qatar after England were forced to ditch plans to wear the OneLove armband promoting diversity and inclusivity under threat from Fifa of players being cautioned should they carry out the gesture of support.
