DOHA (Reuters) – England beat Iran 6-2 in their World Cup opener on Monday. Substitutes Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish rounded out the defeat thanks to double goals from Saka Bukayo Saka and goals from Jude Bellingham and Raheem Sterling.
In the 35th minute, England nearly took the lead in the Group B opener when Harry Maguire headed for the bar before the 19-year-old Bellingham headed in from Luke Shaw’s cross.
Eight minutes later England doubled their lead when Maguire climbed to the highest point from a corner and Saka scored.
Sterling played a cross from captain Harry Kane in stoppage time before Saka overwhelmed the Iranian defense to make it 4-0 in the 62nd minute. Three minutes later, Mehdi Taremi cut Iran’s deficit, but Rashford made it 5-1 and fellow substitute Grealish scored England’s sixth goal. Talemi scored Iran’s second consolation goal in the final seconds from the penalty spot.
