England vs. Iran final score
The Arsenal man scored twice in the 6-2 win in Qatar as Gareth Southgate’s side got off to a perfect start to the season.
Irani goalkeeper
Although injury and a suspected concussion to Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand hampered the competition’s early momentum, it was not long before the Three Lions, who were more attacking than many expected, broke through. Jude Bellingham became England’s second youngest player to score in the tournament, behind Michael Owen, when he stepped into the box in the 35th minute to meet Luke Shaw’s cross. The floodgates opened and Saka immediately doubled the lead. The match ended for Iran in the first half as Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling met for the third time.
Saka was the undisputed star
On a day when all England forwards (and some defenders) shone, Saka was the undisputed star, leveling with Enner Valencia with a superb low shot at the climax of the Golden Shoe’s early race. Had Gareth Southgate not made big changes to the game, which is completely out of reach for Iran, he could have scored a hat-trick, although his replacement Marcus Rashford put in a more than natural performance. Kane dropped low as usual and the Manchester United striker attacked the space he cleared on the right, cut in from the left and rolled the ball into the bottom corner. Their sixth came off the bench, Callum Wilson altruistically battling for his replacement Jack Grealish to score his first goal on the biggest stage.
Saka and Valencia
Along with Saka and Valencia, Mehdi Taremi was on the scoresheet, with a powerful shot in 13 minutes of stoppage time to make it 4-1 with a cool penalty, denying the Three Lions any chance of a World Cup record lead. But even at half-time, head coach Carlos Quieros seemed to know the game was over and made three changes at half-time to keep tabs on the upcoming fixtures against USA and Wales. Based on that, England will take multiple places at the top of Group B.
Team stats:
Group B Points Table after 21 Nov 2022
