England Trounce Iran 6-2 in First FIFA World Cup 2022 Game to Go Top of The Group

England started its FIFA World Cup 2022 campaign by trouncing Iran 6-2, as Bukayo Saka scored a brace in Group B’s first match in Qatar.

England started on the front foot

Having the lion’s share of possession and dominating the play. With all its attacking flair on show, it was under-fire defender Harry Maguire that had the first meaningful chance of the game, hitting the post from a Kevin Trippier corner. A couple of minutes later England opened the scoring with Sterling releasing Luke Shaw down the left flank to deliver a pinpoint cross, headed into the back of the net by teenage sensation Jude Bellingham, marking his first goal in his first World Cup for the Three Lions.

Saka doubled the lead for the English after 8 minutes as he volleyed the ball put in his path by Maguire’s header from another deadly Luke Shaw cross.  Just 3 minutes at the stroke of half-time, Jude Bellingham turned inside to get into the central space on the counter and released Harry Kane on the right, who took a touch, dropped his shoulder, and crossed the ball into the penalty box for Raheem Sterling to get ahead of his man and poke in from close range to make it 3-0 for England.

In the second half, England continued their rout of Iran and picked up where they left off. Luke Shaw glanced a header in the path of an incoming Raheem Sterling, who dropped between the lines to receive the ball, take a half-turn, and release Saka on the left-hand side. Saka took a touch and dummied past a couple of Iranian defenders before placing a shot in the right-hand corner of the net to make it 4-0 and get his brace. 

With the match already done and dusted for the Iranians, they finally got their first consolation goal in the 64^th minute. Right-back Moharrami exchanged a couple of passes with Nourollahi on the right-hand channel before giving the ball to substitute Gholizadeh who gave a low pass into the penalty box for Taremi. The striker got in between Maguire and John Stones to rifle the shot past Jordan Pickford.

However, England continued to make their opponent’s life more miserable. In the 71^st minute, Pickford sent a long ball into the Iranian half, which was superbly brought under control by Harry Kane with his back to the goal.  The England captain turned brilliantly, leaving his marker in the wake, and placed the ball into the path of an incoming Marcus Rashford. The Manchester United star chopped in on his left foot and perfectly placed the shot to get England’s fifth, making him the perfect impact substitute.

In the 90^th minute, Rashford dropped into his own half to receive the pass from John Stones and flicked the ball to Bellingham. The Borussia Dortmund star released a lovely through ball to Callum Wilson on the right. The substitute raced past his man, shifting inside, before squaring the ball to fellow substitute Jack Grealish to tap into an empty net to make it 6 for the English.

There was a little bit more action left for Iran in Extra time as Torabi released Azmoun who hit the post after Pickford got his fingers to his right-footed strike before Iran won a freekick on the right flank in the 98^th minute. Hajisafi whipped a cross toward the far post, which was cleared by the goalkeeper. However, Stones got a hold of Taremi’s shirt in the process which won Iran a penalty. Taremi stepped up to stutter a couple of steps on the way to slotting home Iran’s second of the night, which was indeed a long one.

With Wales and U.S.A drawing in the group’s other match, England goes top of the group with 3 points while Iran languishes at last. The Three Lions face the U.S.A in their next group game while the Iranians will match up against Wales.