For six to kick off Cup in style
Ata glance
spell that settled the match.
Saka struck again around the hour mark, followed by Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish, while Iran’s Mehdi Taremi scored two consolations.
‘‘To win by that margin, to play as we did for the majority of the game, you’ve got to be really happy,’’ Southgate said.
There was controversy before kick-off. England players did take the knee, as part of their longrunning stand against discrimination, but captain Harry Kane did not wear the OneLove armband after Fifa said he would be booked if he did.
Iranian players did not sing their anthem, prompting an interruption in the TV feed in Iran where authorities interpreted it as being support of the antigovernment protests engulfing the country. In the stands some Iranian fans made thumbs-down gestures as the anthem was played, others wore shirts with the protesters’ slogan ‘‘Women, Life, Freedom’’.
In the other group B match yesterday, Gareth Bale converted a penalty kick in the 82nd minute to offset Tim Weah’s first-half goal and give Wales a 1-1 draw against the United States.
In Doha, the Netherlands scored two late goals from Cody Gakpo and substitute Davy Klaasen to beat Senegal 2-0 in group A where Ecuador had beaten Qatar 2-0 a day earlier.
World Cup day 2:
Group A:
Senegal 0 Netherlands 2.
Group B:
England 6 Iran 2, United States 1 Wales 1.