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England vs Iran, Group B, FIFA World Cup 2022 Live Scorecard: England flew off the blocks in their first World Cup group match against Iran, taking a 3-0 lead at half time. Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka and Raheem Sterling put England on the front foot as Iran had a setback early on after their first choice goalkeeper had to be stretchered off after a collision with an England forward.
In the second half, Saka completed his brace while Manchester boys Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish made instant impacts after coming off the bench as they added the last two nails in Iran’s coffin
There was a lot of pressure on Southgate coming into the World Cup, after poor form, and an extra-cautious system failed to get the right results, despite having a very talented set of attacking players. Today, the England manager has given his players more freedom and by sacrificing a defender to play both Mount and Bellingham in attacking positions, it allowed for creating overloads and breaking down a usually capable Iranian defensive unit. In just one half, England’s less conservative approach is showing an effectiveness that the team has not shown all year. Will it last throughout the tournament?
England have a lot to live up to in their opening match against Iran after reaching the semifinals of the 2018 World Cup and the EURO 2020 final, but Gareth Southgate’s side has failed to win a single game in their last six matches. England were unbeaten in their campaign to qualify for Qatar while their total of 39 goals is their highest tally in a single World Cup qualifying campaign.
England (4-3-3): Pickford; Trippier, Stones, Maguire, Shaw; Bellingham, Rice, Mount; Saka, Kane (c), Sterling
Iran (4-3-3): Beiranvand, Moharrami, Hajsafi, Mohammadi, Jahanbakhsh, Pouraliganji, Taremi, Cheshmi, Karimi, Hosseini, Nourollahi.
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