England beat Iran 6-2, in a strong start to the season in the FIFA World Cup finals in Qatam, Group Two, on Monday.
And the England international took the big win thanks to braces from Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka, with one 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, the Brazilian Rafael Clas, calculated 14 minutes of added time in the first half and 10 in the second, which increased to over 13 minutes to implement a penalty kick awarded to the Iranian national team.
England came close to taking the lead with an early goal after Harry Maguire headed over the bar, before Blingham, the 19-year-old, capitalized on Luke Shaw’s cross to strike the net with a perfect header in the 35th minute.
Eight minutes later, Maguire got up 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 from captain Harry Kane to score the third goal from close range just before half-time.
The score became 4-0 by Saka in the 62nd minute.
Iranian striker Tarmi reduced his national deficit after three minutes, but substitute Rashford scored England’s fifth goal after his direct appearance, then Grealish finished off his international goals in the 90th minute.
And in the 13th minute of added time, Tarmi scored the second goal for Iran from a penalty, after returning to the video assistant referee.
Most of the goals in the match came from great shots by the England players, characterized by team play and high skill.
Before the match started, players of the Iranian national team refrained from singing the national anthem, in a clear sign of support for the protests in their country.
And all elements of the starting lineup of 11 Iranian men remained silent during the performance of the national anthem at the Khalifa International Stadium.
With the pace of the players, 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 they were discussing whether or not to play the national anthem and that the decision would be taken collectively.
And Iran’s Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz had earlier said on Tuesday that his players had the “right to express” their opinions, but respecting “the spirit of the game and the laws of FIFA… according to these principles and values, everyone has the right to express themselves”.
The second group also includes the United States and Wales.
