England thrashed Iran 6-2 in an emphatic World Cup Group B opener, thanks to two goals from Bukayo Saka and strikes by Jude Bellingham and Raheem Sterling, before substitutes Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish scored one each.
Saka and Bellingham were England’s driving forces with dynamic displays that underlined their emergence as two of the game’s brightest young stars.
Bellingham, 19, shattered Iran’s hopes of frustrating England when he rose to head his maiden senior international goal in the first half.
Gareth Southgate’s side were in sparkling form at the Khalifa International Stadium and goals from Saka and Raheem Sterling put them in complete control before half-time.
Saka, 21, netted again after the interval and, although Mehdi Taremi struck twice for Iran, Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish completed the demolition.
There will be far sterner tests to come for England as they bid to win their first major trophy since the 1966 World Cup.
But this was a welcome step in the right direction for Southgate, whose team arrived in Qatar on a six-match winless run that triggered scathing criticism of the Three Lions boss and his perceived negative tactics.
The only concern for Southgate was the sight of Harry Maguire being replaced in the second half after being checked for a potential head injury.
England play their second match against the United States on Friday and conclude their Group B fixtures against Wales on November 29.
Just hours before kick-off, England revealed captain Harry Kane would not wear a rainbow-themed ‘One Love’ armband after the Football Association and several other European countries dropped their campaign in support of LGBTQ rights.
Because the armband was not a FIFA-approved piece of kit, it was reported that any player wearing it would be booked — a risk England were apparently unwilling to take.
The match also took place against the background of turmoil in Iran after months of female-led demonstrations sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman of Kurdish origin who was arrested by the morality police in Tehran.
Iran’s players refused to sing their national anthem in apparent support for anti-government protesters.
Trippier, after the match, said: “There were moments in the game where we know we can improve, myself included. I gave the ball away a few times. We’ve got to enjoy three points and move on to the next game.
“Winning first game in the group is always important, we wanted to be on the front foot, we were clinical in the right moments. Now we’ve got to rest, recover and focus on the next one.
“You can see the attacking players we’ve got, players off the bench made an impact. We’ve got quality in the team but it’s about expressing ourselves. We can enjoy this game but still learn from certain moments and focus on USA.”
Jude Bellingham reflected on “a really proud moment” as the teenager scored his first England goal in a dominant World Cup win.
“I thought [my goal] had missed,” Bellingham told BBC Sport.
“It took ages to loop into the goal.
“It was a brilliant ball from Shaw. A really proud moment for me. We have to get ready for the next game. We’ll still be at the same level, trying to get two more wins, and get that mentality into hopefully the rest of the tournament.”
The USA are England’s next opponents, that match taking place at 7pm GMT on Friday evening.
Gareth Southgate’s side then play their final group-stagematch against Wales a week tomorrow, again it’s a 7pm kick-off.
Three Lions are huge favourites to top Group B – Wales and the USA face each other this evening in what is likely to be a pivotal clash for second place.
