England hit Iran for six to kick off Cup in style

There was a lot going on at Doha’s Khalifa International Stadium yesterday: eight goals, 29 minutes injury-time, protests banned and performed, ticket problems and a concussion controversy, but the abiding takeaway was that England are real World Cup contenders.

Gareth Southgate’s team brushed off a six-match winless run to thrash Iran 6-2 with a dynamic display of attacking football.

Fielding nine of the XI that started the Euros final in 2021, lost on penalties to Italy, England were impressive.

The exceptions to that Wembley starting line-up, 19-year-old Jude Bellingham and 21-year-old Bukayo Saka, were both on the scoresheet, along with Raheem Sterling, in an 11-minute first-half

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.