21st November 2022:

England began their Fifa World Cup journey with a smashing 6-2 win against the Iran national team. The game took a turn early on in the opening half when the Iranian goalkeeper Beiranvand was substituted for H.Hosseini due to a collision with his fellow team mate M.Hosseini in the 12th minute that caused a concussion for Beiranvand as well as a bleeding nose. Jahanbakhsh was the first player to receive a yellow card in the game after committing two fouls against the England side in the 25th minute; only 10 minutes later comes the first goal from the young superstar Jude Bellingham, assisted by Luke Shaw, who headed the ball into the back of the net, England are now 1-0 up. Bukayo Saka makes it 2-0 just 8 minutes later after Harry Maguire heads the ball to him after a corner and Saka swiftly takes his left foot to strike it into Iran’s goal. It becomes a crushing first half for the Iranian side when Raheem Sterling makes it 3-0 for the lions in 45+1 minutes, but with 45 minutes plus added time in the next half, Iran had time to put back goals on the sheet.

The second half begins and Iran make 3 substitutes in attempt to bring their side back into the game, and this stopped England from firing for the first fifteen to twenty minutes, until Saka scores his second goal and makes it 4-0; beautifully curling the ball into the corner of the net, England are now on a mighty run. Another substitution is made on the Iranian side, but this time it definitely counted. Mehdi Taremi was subbed on in the 63rd minute and scored in the 65th, with one shot, it landed into England’s net, now it’s game on. In the 70th minute, England make the same decision to substitute 3 players, Marcus Rashford MBE being one of them, and in the first minute, with only two touches needed, he makes it 5-1 for England. The game only becomes more gruelling for Iran when Jack Grealish makes it a smashing 6-1 for the Lions, with the assist from recently subbed on Callum Wilson. The second half finishes with a cheer for both sides as Iran are awarded a penalty in the 90-13th minute after a VAR check for a foul committed against the Iranian solo goal scorer Taremi by John Stones. Taremi makes it two for his country and the game ends with an incredible 6-2 to England.