Raheem Sterling
England made a resounding statement with a win in World Cup 2022 Group B opening match day with a 6-2 win over porous Iran with 5 different scorers finding the back of the net at the Khalifa International Stadium in Qatar.
Maguire was on the canvas with just 10 minutes of play complaining about a possible penalty appeal but the weakness of Iran was further seen when No. 1 Alireza Beiranvand was substituted for a head injury after clashing with a teammate.
Jude Bellingham rose to meet Luke Shaw's cross burying the ball into the top right corner to join the list of England's young scorers at the World Cup.
Scorers in the second half ? pic.twitter.com/HyWWJ0IMxT
— England (@England) November 21, 2022
In quick succession, Bukayo Saka made it 2-0 after Maguire headed down an aerial ball into the foot of the Arsenal man and he fired in a volley almost to the same spot as the first goal.
Raheem Sterling was there to tap in a cross from Harry Kane to make it 3-0 in the final minutes of the first half.
The second half was more composed after Carlos Queiroz made three changes to the Iran side.
But England refused to step off the gas as Saka received the ball from Sterling, ran into the box after some quick feet to beat the Iranian defence, he buried a low ball, past substitute keeper, Hossein Hosseini.
Iran got a consolation goal with a link-up between Moharrami and Gholizadeh to blast the ball into the roof of the net beyond Pickford's reach.
With the match at 4-1, Gareth Southgate removed Maguire for Dier, Saka for Rashford and Sterling for Grealish. He also brought on Phil Foden for Mason Mount.
Rashford with seconds from coming on Marcus Rashford made it 5-1 with a lowball past the goalie.
Grealish also made another impact for England with a goal in the 89th minute to extend the match further away from Iran's reach to make it 6-1.
Bellingham passed the ball to Wilson, he was clear to shoot but unselfishly lay it off for Grealish to tap in.
Iran decreased the deficit to 4 with a late penalty call for Taremi to hit a brace for Iran.
A superb start to our @FIFAWorldCup campaign. ? pic.twitter.com/oUSGfsQFm0
— England (@England) November 21, 2022
The match ended 6-2, later on, Monday USA will play Wales in another encounter in group B while Senegal will face the Netherlands to round up the Group A match.
England will be in action again on Friday against the USA and Iran will play Wales.
England 
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