England squad, coaching staff and supporters will remember their first match in Qatar 2022 World Cup forever as they incredibly defeated Iran in a glorious World Cup opener. Although the match was held in the middle east where Iran could have taken the advantage in terms of weather familiarity and having numerous fans in the stadium, the game was completely controlled by the Three Lions. They put six past Iran thanks to a brace from World Cup debutant Bukayo Saka who became the youngest player to score two goals in a World Cup match for England. Jude Bellingham, Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford, and Jack Grealish also scored against Iran. Mehdi Taremi, on the other hand, found the net twice and beat Pickford.
The game which was accompanied by controversies for England and anti-governmental expressions from Iranians, also made the headlines due to an unusual reason. The two halves of the game recorded an overall 24-minute additional time, 14 in first, and 10 in second half. The first half stoppage time was added because of the long stop in the game when Iran goalkeeper got injured and eventually subbed off.
The Three Lions had achieved their joint-best ever world cup victory until the last seconds of the stoppage time. However, a penalty kick by Taremi in 103rd minute pulled Iran back and made England’s lead four.
