SAKA STARS IN EIGHT GOAL THRILLER

Young Lions on fire in World Cup opener, earning themselves a 6-2 win against Iran. England fly to the top of Group B thanks to star performances from Bukayo Saka and Jude Bellingham.

England got their 2022 World Cup campaign underway in impressive fashion with an emphatic 6-2 victory against Iran. Jude Bellingham broke the deadlock just after the half-hour mark with a guided header. Saka doubled the lead 10 minutes later when he put his laces through the ball first time through the crowded 18-yard box. Before the interval, Raheem Sterling made it three with a first-time finish from close range. England went into the tunnel at half-time dominating, they managed 319 more passes than Iran in the first 45.

It went from bad to worse in the second half for Iran, they conceded another three goals. The first came from Bukayo Saka who claimed his brace to earn the Man of the Match award in his World Cup debut. Marcus Rashford made an instant impact from the bench, scoring with his first three touches of the ball in just 49 seconds. Jack Grealish was the final goal-scorer of the match, tucking away an easy tap-in gifted to him by a very unselfish Callum Wilson.

Iran pulled two goals back in the second half, both coming from Porto striker Mehdi Taremi. The first he smashed into the roof of the net, the second from 12 yards after John Stones conceded a penalty. His goal from the spot concluded the fixture, meaning England had earned their second biggest World Cup win, the first being in Russia 2018 against Panama (6-1).

Positive start from England

England started the game positively, passing the ball around quickly with purpose. There was a penalty shout for the Three Lions in the 4th minute as Harry Maguire was rugby tackled to the ground by Roozbeh Cheshmi. VAR said no penalty, however, England fans and players felt it should have been given.

England continued to enjoy most of the possession in the opening minutes of the game, playing lots of crosses into dangerous areas to question the Iran backline. Nobody was able to get on the end of any of the crosses at the beginning of the fixture.

Early substitution due to collision

8 minutes in, Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand goes down with a concussion after a hefty collision with teammate Hosseini Majid.

The incident occurred when England created yet another goalscoring opportunity early on. Harry Kane had possession on the right wing and crossed it into the 18-yard box. Kane’s cross was heading toward Raheem Sterling but Beiranvand managed to get a fingertip on it to take the ball away from the Chelsea forward's path.

Instead, the ball found Harry Maguire’s boot although he was unable to turn it goalward. The Iranian shot-stopper fell to the floor alongside Majid, both of whom were holding their heads in pain due to Beiranvand’s momentum causing him to clatter into his teammate.

After eight minutes on the floor, Beiranvand got up on his feet in an attempt to continue, however, moments later he accepted defeat and was stretchered off before being replaced by reserve goalkeeper Hossein Hosseini.

Mount squanders first key chance

Down the right-hand-side Bukayo Saka and Kieran Trippier linked up well, working it around the Iran defence before punching it into Raheem Sterling.

Sterling played it back out to Saka who found Mason Mount. Mount attempted to beat Housseini at the near post first time, however, his aim was slightly off and he found the side netting.

Unlucky from England who were beginning to increase the tempo again after the 10 minute stoppage previously.

Maguire header hits the crossbar

Moments later, England came even closer to opening the scoring as Harry Maguire struck the crossbar. Trippier lofted his corner ball into the penalty area as Maguire met it and powered the ball toward the top left corner.

His header came close but bounced off the crossbar and back into play, allowing Iran to begin a counter attack. The attack quickly fizzled out as Iran were dispossessed.

Bellingham kick starts England’s WC campaign

Jude Bellingham broke the deadlock with a looping header into the net. The 19-year-old midfielder scored on his World Cup debut and what a goal it was!

Luke Shaw claimed the assist with a trademark cross into the penalty area. Bellingham rose higher than his opponent and guided the header toward the far corner, leaving Hosseini rooted to the ground.

Bellingham wheeled away in celebration as the Khalifa stadium erupted, it had been coming for a while. England had all the chances and it was only a matter of time before they took one of them. A Three Lions rendition of “Hey Jude” echoed around the ground in appreciation for the young Dortmund star.

Bukayo Saka doubles the lead

Another set piece for England just before the interval saw Bukayo Saka respond to his critics in the best way possible.

Luke Shaw took the corner out on the left wing, he found Maguire who managed to nod the cross back down into the danger area. The ball finds Saka who sets himself before absolutely smashing the ball first time through the crowd of players.

The Arsenal winger rifled it into the top right corner; the net bulged and England had doubled their lead. After all the backlash he received last year, it had to be him!

England score again in quick succession

Due to the drawn-out concussion protocol and various other delays in the first 45 minutes, 14 minutes of additional time was awarded. In the first minute of extra time, Raheem Sterling made it three.

The play started with England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, he opted to go long and managed to find Kane. The skipper nodded the ball down to Jude Bellingham who burst forwards with purpose before returning the ball back to Kane.

Kane squared it, picking out Sterling who lunged towards the low-driven cross. The man who opened England’s account 16 months ago in the Euro’s put them in full control with a first-time finish at the near post. 3-0 at half-time; Gareth Southgate’s side were running away with it.

Brace for Saka

It goes from bad to worse for Iran as Saka gets his brace in his first World Cup appearance. Sterling fed the ball out to the wing, Saka had two defenders showing him away from goal but couldn’t do enough to stop him.

He made himself half a yard by shifting the ball out of his feet and past the two defenders, before unleashing yet another vicious strike. Very different to his first, this time he drilled it along the floor and into the bottom left corner.

Quickfire response from Taremi

Iran finally hit back moments after Saka got his brace. Taremi was the scorer of the consolation goal with Ali Gholizadeh claiming the assist by slotting in the Iran number 9.

Sadegh Moharrami’s initial cross was blocked but he managed to maintain possession and release the ball to Gholizadeh. He spots Taremi making a run in behind Maguire and angles it through to him.

Taremi let the ball run across his body before blasting the ball into the roof of the net. The Iranian’s strike struck the bar on the way in, there was nothing Pickford could do about it. From close range and the amount of power he put on it, it was inevitable that England would lose their clean sheet.

Instant impact from Rashford

After replacing star boy Bukayo Saka in the 71st minute, Marcus Rashford gets his first World Cup goal immediately seconds later. The Iran defence was torn apart once again by the England front three, Kane got his second assist of the match with yet another exquisite progressive pass.

Rashford scored with just his first three touches, the first to control Kane’s pass, the second to cut the ball back across onto his left foot to beat Moharrami, and the third to slot the ball past Husseini and into the far corner.

Three magic touches to restore England’s four-goal cushion.

Grealish gets his name on the scoresheet

Jack Grealish contributes to the score line with a straightforward finish to make it six. Jude Bellingham was highly involved again with a defence-splitting pass through to Callum Wilson.

The Newcastle talisman ran onto Bellingham’s through ball before driving towards the Iranian goal, he drew out Husseini, spotted the run of Jack Grealish, and squared it to his teammate waiting patiently in the six-yard box.

Grealish passed the ball nonchalantly into the back of the net but all credit went to Wilson who was incredibly unselfish to gift the goal to Grealish instead of hunting for glory himself.

Pickford denies Azmoun one-on-one

Deep into additional time, the England defence showed signs of fatigue, making a silly mistake that allowed Sardar Azmoun to go one-on-one against Pickford.

Declan Rice stretched a leg out to intercept but couldn’t quite reach it, leaving Pickford all by himself against Azmoun. The Iranian faced was unable to hold his nerve and opted to smash the ball from close range instead of placing it past Pickford.

It was a very powerful strike but not enough to beat Pickford, who stuck an arm out to turn the ball onto the crossbar to deny Iran their 2nd goal. After saving his backline’s blushes, Pickford didn’t hesitate to tell his teammates off for their lack of focus.

Iran score from 12 yards

In the final moments of the game, Taremi scores his second, this time from 12 yards after a very controversial penalty decision.

John Stones conceded the penalty for pulling on his opponent's shirt, causing him to fall to the ground. Originally, Rafael Claus didn’t award the penalty, however, VAR intervened and called over the referee to review his decision.

Considering the Maguire foul that occurred early on in the first half wasn’t given, it was a shock to all that a challenge far tamer was deemed unfair. Gary Lineker assumed that the referee “felt sorry” for the Iranians and therefore gave them a penalty that would not affect the game, although this doesn’t make it right to do.

Taremi stepped up and coolly rolled the ball into the bottom right corner, his brace doesn’t mean much though, just another consolation goal after quite an embarrassing loss. Taremi’s penalty kick concluded the first game of Group B.

A step in the right direction

England take the early lead in Group B with 3 points on the board, a great start that will give them the confidence to go and get another result against USA on Friday. Gareth Southgate was pleased with the result overall, especially the front line, stating that they "looked a threat throughout the game and really delivered".

A great day for the youngsters who were responsible for the majority of the six goals. Surprisingly Harry Kane didn't get his name on the scoresheet, however, he was still very effective going forward, creating plenty of chances and getting two assists.

A completely dominant performance where England enjoyed 78% possession, Iran are yet to win against European opponents in the World Cup. Plenty to work on moving forward but a brilliant statement to begin what will hopefully be another special tournament for the Three Lions.

What's Next?

Next match report = Wales vs England

Tuesday 29th November 7pm

England – (4-2-3-1) Pickford, Stones, Maguire (Dier 70’), Trippier, Shaw, Rice, Bellingham, Mount (Foden 71’), Saka (Rashford 71’), Sterling (Grealish 71’), Kane (Wilson 76’)

Scorers- Jude Bellingham (35’), Bukayo Saka (43’, 62’), Raheem Sterling (45+1), Marcus Rashford (71’), Jack Grealish (90’)

Bookings – N/A

Iran – (5-3-2) Beiranvand (Hosseini 19’), Moharrami, Hosseini, Cheshmi (Kanani 45’), Pouraliganji, Mohammadi (Torabi 63’), Hajsafi, Karimi (Ezatolahi 45’), Nourollahi (Azmoun 77’), Jahanbakhsh (Gholizadeh 45’), Taremi

Scorers – Mehdi Taremi (65’, 90+13’)

Bookings - Jahanbakhsh (25’), Pouraliganji (48’)

Referee: Raphael Claus

Attendance: 45,334

POTM: Bukayo Saka

Written by Isabelle Newnham