- Iran and England from Group B play their first match of the World Cup.
- Group B is deemed the toughest group with an average world ranking of 15 and a spread of just 15 places.
- England qualified for Qatar 2022 unbeaten
- Iran is the top Asian team in the FIFA rankings
- FIFA ranking: Iran (20), England (5)
Full Time: England 6-1 Iran (15:17 GMT)
England dominated this game, scoring six goals and having 79% ball possession.
It was a strong performance from Saka who won the man of the match award.
Concerns though will be raised about the Three Lions defending. They sloppily conceded two goals to Taremi through defensive lapses in concentration. They got the job done today but cannot afford this when stronger tests in the tournament arrived.
Iran will look to learn from the lessons ahead of their game against Wales on Friday.
90+ 12 mins: England 6-2 Iran (15:15 GMT)
GOAL!
Taremi steps up from the spot, sending Pickford the wrong way.
90+11 mins: England 6-1 Iran(15:13 GMT)
Penalty to Iran
Stones is penalized for a shirt pull. A VAR check awards the penalty.
90+5 minutes: England 6-1 Iran (15:06 GMT)
The ten minutes of second half stoppage time combined with the 14 in the first half means that this game has seen more than 24 minutes of stoppage time.
90+3 mins: England 6-1 Iran (15:04 GMT)
England now have jointly their biggest ever World Cup win, matching their 2018 group stage win over Panama.
One more goal could see them set a new record.
90 mins: England 6-1 Iran (15:00 GMT)
Goal!
Grealish scores to make it six for England.
Wilson looked like he was going to shoot but opted to take the less selfish route and play in Grealish who simply had to tuck the ball into the net.
There will be ten minutes of second-half stoppage time here.
88 mins: England 5-1 Iran (14:59 GMT)
Truth be told, Iran cannot take many positives from this game.
England were surely favourites to win but Iran may have hoped to be more competitive. They have been thoroughly thrashed here and this performance will raise serious doubts over whether they can progress beyond the group stage.
Team Melli have had just 20% ball possession in the game.
84 mins: England 5-1 Iran (14:56 GMT)
Rashford shows some individual brilliance, beating a couple of Iran defenders and shooting. He wins a corner for his efforts. But the corner comes to nothing as an England player is penalised for a foul.
“I wish we weren’t facing England” says Iranian radio host (14:55 GMT)
“I wish we weren’t facing England,” an Iranian radio host commentating on the match tells listeners after the team concedes a fifth goal against The Three Lions.
“I wish [at] least we weren’t playing them on the first match. We were building nice momentum earlier in the game. We should now focus on matches with Wales and USA.”
This is now officially Iran’s heaviest defeat in any World Cup match.
England v Iran, Group B, FIFA World Cup 2022. November 21, Doha, Qatar [Showkat Shafi/Al Jazeera]
England now seem content with the score. The speed of their play has slowed down and who can blame them?
They have done the hard work now and are looking to run down the clock.
78 mins: England 5-1 Iran (14:51 GMT)
Iran have not had a good day but their supporters remain full of energy, cheering on as Azmoun comes on for Nourollahi.
Taremi has a chance to score again but fails to produce a similar finish to that which saw him notch a consolation for Iran.
75 mins: England 5-1 Iran (14:47 GMT)
Kane is off and replaced by Wilson. The England captain may have not scored today but he had a good game, drifting out wide, picking out passes and finding crosses.
71 mins: England 5-1 Iran (14:43 GMT)
GOAL!
Rashford scores seconds after coming on. He beats a defender before slotting in past Hosseini, showing skill and composure. Kane did good work in the build-up.
Dier, Rashford, Grealish and Foden all came on moments earlier with Maguire, Saka, Sterling and Mount all making way.
68 mins: England 4-1 Iran (14:40 GMT)
Maguire is off for England who are down to ten men for now.
Dier will soon come on along with three other players. Bellingham fills in at centre-back for the moment.
65: England 4-1 Iran (14:36 GMT)
Iran score. England will not keep a clean sheet.
Taremi scores a beauty.
62 mins: England 4-0 Iran (14:33 GMT)
England score again, it’s Saka who notches his double.
After receiving an assist from Sterling, Saka fired low and into the net, giving Hosseini no chance of saving.
60 mins: England 3-0 Iran (14:33 GMT)
Surprisingly, England have yet to make any changes. With the game virtually won, one would have expected him to soon give other players in his squad a chance.
For Iran, they must now focus on keeping their morale high. A decent performance and perhaps preventing England from scoring in the second half can help them do that.
56 mins: England 3-0 Iran (14:28 GMT)
Kane and Sterling exchange passes which results in a corner for England. The corner is hit too strong and Mount commits a foul, gifting possession back to Iran.
Much to the relief of England, Bellingham is back up and looks okay to continue. Trippier plays in a corner looking for Maguire but it is too strong for the defender.
51 mins: England 3-0 Iran (14:23 GMT)
Trippier strikes from a free-kick but the wall makes easy work of his effort.
48 mins: England 3-0 Iran (14:20 GMT)
Pouraliganji inflicts a mistimed challenge on the ankle of Kane. He gets booked.
Kane is down and in pain. He may have picked up a sore injury.
“Iran should just defend now, no more goals”(14:19 GMT)
Iran supporter, Rahim Islami, 60, says there is “no chance” Iran will score another goal.
“They should just make sure they don’t allow more goals. No more embarrassment.” Islami said shaking his head. Whatever happens, though he says he will stay till the end to get his money’s worth.
England v Iran, Group B, FIFA World Cup 2022. November 21, Doha, Qatar [Showkat Shafi/Al Jazeera]
46 mins: England 3-0 Iran (14:16 GMT)
England get the second half underway.
Iran have made a triple change as Jahanbakhsh, Chesmi and Karimi are all off and replaced by Kanaani, Gholizadeh and Ezatolahi.
Arsenal sends message of support to in-form Saka (14:15 GMT)
Saka was a marvel to watch in the first half as he scored England’s second goal.
His club Arsenal, whom he has helped keep atop the Premier League table, paid tribute to him on Twitter.
Sterling issues message to naysayers (14:10 GMT)
Some fans and pundits were against the inclusion of Raheem Sterling in the England team given his inconsistencies for Chelsea this season.
However, the former Manchester City man was on target today as he struck his team’s third goal.
England fans will not only be ecstatic but hope that the goal can be the tonic Sterling needs to do well for his country in this tournament.
45+14 mins: England 3-0 Iran (14:02 GMT)
That’s it for the first-half.
England are comfortably in the lead and coasting to victory.
It’s hard to tell right now that this is a team that hasn’t won any game since beating Ivory Coast 3-0 in March.
Granted, stronger tests could lie ahead for Southgate’s men when they play against Wales and the USA.
45+12: England 3-0 Iran (14:00 GMT)
Questions were asked about the quality of the England defence coming into this tournament but starting goalkeeper Pickford must be pleased with the work his backline has done so far. He has largely been a spectator in this game.
On the other end of the pitch, Shaw makes a delivery into the box. It just whizzes past Maguire who can’t get a shot away.
45+8 mins: England 3-0 Iran (13:58 GMT)
Hosseini in goal for Team Melli could not do much to prevent any of the three goals from happening.
Iran have an attack, taking advantage of a sloppy Trippier pass. Jahanbakhsh has a chance to shoot but it’s a chance wasted for Iran.
England must look to make changes ahead of the second half in order to give more players a run.
45+3 (13:52 GMT)
The game is now surely wrapped up already. England need to be cautious and ensure that their best players are preserved and carefully managed ahead of future games as the tournament progresses.
For Iran, it’s now about damage control.
45: England 3-0 Iran (13:50 GMT)
There will be 14 minutes of first half stoppage time due to the earlier lengthy stoppage.
45 mins: England 3-0 Iran (13:48 GMT)
Bellingham again at the centre of things.
He slides in to Kane before the captain finds Sterling in the box.
The England no 10 Sterling finishes calmly.
43 mins: England 2-0 Iran (13:48 GMT)
Saka finishes well from a corner. He latches onto a loose ball, striking powerfully. England double their lead.
Iran protest, claiming Maguire handled the ball. But the goal stands.
England are dominating proceedings and there seems to be an emerging gulf in class between the two teams.
40 mins: England 1-0 Iran (13:42 GMT)
For Iran, there is no real need to panic as yet. They have so far had only 17% ball possession and no shots but the score suggests that they are still in the game.
They will need to tweak their game-plan at half-time to try and increase the chances of taking advantage of an English error.
Iran have a rare passage of attacking play but Rice gets back possession for the Three Lions.
35 mins: England 1-0 Iran (13:37 GMT)
England score via Bellingham.
England finally open the scoring as Bellingham neatly tucks in with a header following a whipped in ball from Shaw. It was a terrific goal and the youngster has announced himself on the world stage as expected.
35 mins: England 0-0 Iran (13:35 GMT)
England had their first real chance of the game as Saka cut in from the right and fed in Mount who struck the side netting.
Maguire comes close to opening the netting as he strikes the post with a header following a corner. England are looking dangerous from set-pieces. The Manchester United defender was unlucky to have not opened the scoring.
Iran are surviving but need to up the ante if they want to avoid conceding sooner rather than later.
30 mins: England 0-0 Iran (13:30 GMT)
🟨 Yellow
Jahanbakhsh gets the first yellow card of the game following a clumsy challenge on the ankle of Shaw. He will need to be careful.
Saka has the first shot of the game on target. Hosseini makes a straightforward save. Saka lacked space but will have to be crisper and more accurate if he wants to score.
The save is met by loud cheers from the Iran fans in the stadium.
25 mins: England 0-0 Iran (13:25 GMT)
As the substitution was a concussion enforced one, Iran will retain five substitutions as per the protocols used at the World Cup.
England have so far had 88% ball possession and Iran 12%.
Former Brighton midfielder Jahanbakhsh wastes a free-kick opportunity for Iran as England easily clear away through Trippier.
20 mins: England 0-0 Iran (13:20 GMT)
Unsurprisingly Beiranvand realizes that he cannot continue as he signals to his bench to be replaced. It will be a blow to Iran. Beiranvand is the team’s goalkeeper and also helps the side orchestrate attacks by playing the ball out from the back.
Iran back-up keeper Hosseini is on.
Taremi a threat up front for Iran (13:19 GMT)
Chelsea fans may well remember Mehdi Taremi from his wondergoal against them in the Champions League.
The acrobatic bicycle kick won best goal of the Champions League 2020/21 season.
He has scored 42 goals and registered 28 assists in 79 appearances for his club, Porto.
Mehdi Taremi scores against Chelsea [REUTERS/Marcelo Del Pozo]
15 mins: England 0-0 Iran (13:17 GMT)
Following a lengthy delay, it looked like Iran goalkeeper Beiranvand would not play a further part in this game. Back-up keeper Hosseini was preparing to come on but Beiranvand stays on and lines up a goal kick. Hosseini will need to stay ready.
Iran players did not sing the national anthem (13:12 GMT)
The Iranian players did not sing the national anthem and stood motionless as the music played.
The move has been a popular way of demonstrating support for the country’s ongoing protests, with various athletes refusing to sing along with the anthem.
England v Iran, Group B, FIFA World Cup 2022. November 21, Doha, Qatar [Showkat Shafi/Al Jazeera]
10 mins: England 0-0 Iran (13:11 GMT)
It’s all England so far as Iran have yet to have a sustained period of possession. Kane puts in a neat ball in at the back post but Maguire cannot meet it. There was a nasty clash of heads between Beiranvand and Hosseini. Play stops as they receive treatment.
4 mins: England 0-0 Iran (13:06 GMT)
Maguire goes down claiming a penalty following an early England corner after he fell following contact with Chesmi. VAR is not interested. England are looking confident on the ball.
1 min: England 0-0 Iran (13:01 GMT)
We are up and running.
Iran get Group B up and running. The game is on. Iran have lined up with a back five.
National anthems are over as match is set to start (13:00 GMT)
The national anthems have been played, and we are a minute away from kick-off.
The atmosphere in the stadium is palpable. Judging from the anthems, the Iranians outnumber the English.
Fans at Khalifa International Stadium ahead of England v Iran, Group B, FIFA World Cup 2022. November 21, Doha, Qatar [Showkat Shafi/Al Jazeera]
The stadium is beginning to fill up (12:53 GMT)
The players are warming up on the field, and the stadium is filling up. However, there are still lots of seats available in the upper tiers.
Fans at Khalifa International Stadium ahead of England v Iran, Group B, FIFA World Cup 2022. November 21, Doha, Qatar [Showkat Shafi/Al Jazeera]
