|
Rank |
FIFA (6th
October 2022) 5th
EFO ranking
Group One (4th)
ELO rating 13th to 11th |
Colours |
The Nike 2022 home uniform -
White crew-necked jerseys
with dark to light blue
fury gradient sleeves, fury/void cuffs, blue void shorts,
white socks with fury/void thin hoop. |
Captain |
Harry Kane
|
Manager |
Gareth Southgate, 52 (3 September 1970), appointed caretaker manager on 27 September 2016, appointed as permanent manager on 30 November
2016. |
⁴³ most goals as captain |
51st of 74, W 30 - D 11 - L 10 - F 117 - A 45. |
|
Kieran Trippier 74:54 |
P 77th of 102, W 47 - D
17 - L 13 - F 167 - A 55 |
England
Lineup |
|
four changes to the previous match (Pope, Dier,
James & Foden out) |
league position (10th November) |
|
1 |
Pickford, Jordan L. |
28 259 days |
7 March 1994 |
G |
Everton FC
(PL 16th) |
46 |
36ᵍᵃ |
|
the 3rd goalkeeper to concede 7 penalties |
|
|
|
12 |
Trippier, Kieran J. |
32 63 days |
19 September 1990 |
RB |
Newcastle United FC
(PL 3rd) |
38 |
1 |
5 |
Stones, John |
28 177 days |
28 May 1994 |
RCD |
Manchester City FC
(PL 2nd) |
60 |
3 |
45th player to reach the 60-app milestone |
6
|
Maguire, J. Harry,
unwell off 68th min. (67:34). |
29 261 days |
5 March 1993 |
LCD |
Manchester United FC
(PL 5th) |
49 |
7 |
3
|
Shaw, Luke P.H. |
27 132 days |
12 July 1995 |
LB |
Manchester United FC
(PL 5th) |
24 |
3 |
22
|
Bellingham, Jude V.W. |
19 145 days |
29 June 2003 |
RDM |
Bsv Borussia 09 Dortmund,
Germany |
18 |
1 |
4 |
Rice, Declan |
23 311 days |
14 January 1999 |
LDM |
West Ham United FC
(PL 15th) |
35 |
2 |
17
|
Saka, Bukayo A.T.,
off 71st min. |
21 77 days |
5 September 2001 |
RAM |
Arsenal FC
(PL TOP) |
21 |
6 |
the 368th
(235th post-war) brace
scored |
19 |
Mount, Mason T.,
off 71st min. |
23 315 days |
10 January 1999 |
AM |
Chelsea FC
(PL 7th) |
33 |
5 |
10
|
Sterling, Raheem S.,
off 71st min. |
27 348 days |
8 December 1994
in Kingston, Jamaica |
LAM
|
Chelsea FC
(PL 7th) |
80 |
20 |
seventeenth player to reach the 80-app
milestone
|
23rd player to score twenty goals |
9
|
Kane, Harry E.,
off 75th min. |
29 116 days |
28 July 1993 |
CF |
Tottenham Hotspur FC
(PL 4th) |
76 |
51 |
England
Substitutes |
scoreline:
England 4 Iran 1 |
15 |
Dier, Eric J.E., on 70th min.
(69:20) for Maguire |
28 310 days |
15 January 1994 |
LCD |
Tottenham Hotspur FC
(PL 4th) |
48 |
37 |
3 |
11 |
11 |
Rashford, Marcus, on 71st min.
(70:01) for Saka |
25 22 days |
31 October 1997 |
RAM |
Manchester United FC
(PL 5th) |
47 |
21 |
13 |
26 |
|
102nd goal by a substitute |
7 |
Grealish, Jack P., on 71st min.
(70:09) for Sterling |
27 73 days |
10 September 1995 |
LAM |
Manchester City FC
(PL 2nd) |
25 |
12 |
2 |
13 |
|
103rd goal by a substitute |
20 |
Foden, Philip W.,
on 71st min.
(70:15) for Mount |
22 177 days |
28 May 2000 |
AM |
Manchester City FC
(PL 2nd) |
19 |
13 |
2 |
6 |
scoreline:
England 5 Iran 1 |
24
|
Wilson, Callum E.G., on 75th min.
(74:57) for Kane |
30 267 days |
27 February 1992 |
CF |
Newcastle United FC
(PL 3rd) |
5 |
1 |
1
|
4 |
the 39th United player to represent England |
|
result:
England 6 Iran 2 |
unused substitutes: |
2-Kyle Walker (unavailable), 8-Jordan Henderson, 13-Nick
Pope, 14-Kalvin Phillips, 16-Conor Coady, 18-Trent Alexander-Arnold, 21-Ben White, 23-Aaron Ramsdale, 26-Conor Gallagher. |
team notes: |
Raheem Sterling has now been at three different World Cup Final
tournaments with three different clubs, Liverpool, Manchester City and
now Chelsea. Tottenham Hotspur have now provided the team captain
for 97 matches, two more than Wolverhampton Wanderers, but still one
less than Liverpool and 41 less than Manchester United. Jack Grealish's great great
grandfather,
Billy Garraty, also played for
England in 1903. Callum Wilson was originally readied as a
substitute for the 64th minute, but following the illness to Harry
Maguire when Iran scored their first goal, Wilson's place went to Dier,
who was then not allowed to immediately replace Maguire. leaving
England playing with ten men for almost two minutes. |
goal records: |
Jude Bellingham becomes the second teenager to score for England at
the World Cup Finals and the eighteenth teenager to score for England
overall, but the latest (in appes) to score his first (18th). Bukayo Saka becomes the youngest England
player to score two goals in World Cup Finals. |
manager records: |
Gareth Southgate has now gone one better than Sir Alf Ramsey victories
in Major Tournament Finals (WC/EC). His nine to Ramsey's eight. |
records: |
England ended a run of six competitive matches without victory with
this emphatic win. No other captain has led
England into more Major Tournament Final matches than Harry Kane,
his fifteenth is one more than David Beckham. |
World Cup records: |
This is England's thirtieth victory in their
seventieth World Cup Finals match. England scored six again in a World Cup Finals
tournament having first achieving the feat in
2018 against Panama. This is the best opening-Tournament result
England have achieved, beating the previous best in
1982 when they beat France 3-1. All five of England's
goalscorers were scoring their first England goal in a World Cup Final
tournament. Iran's second goal was the tenth conceded by Jordan
Pickford at
WCF, equal with Peter Shilton. Jude Bellingham is the
120th
different goalscorer for England in World Cup (preliminary &
Finals) play. Not since Steven Gerrard against
Sweden in June 2006 has a substitute scored at a WCF. |
|
4-2-3-1 |
Pickford - Trippier, Stones, Maguire (Dier),
Shaw - Bellingham, Rice - Saka (Rashford), Mount (Foden),
Sterling (Grealish) - Kane (Wilson) |
Averages (Starting XI): |
Age |
26 years 202
days |
Appearances/Goals |
43.6 |
8.6 |
|
|
Rank |
FIFA (6th
October 2022) 20th
EFO ranking
n/a
ELO rating
24th to 30th |
Colours |
Made by Majid - red crew-necked jerseys
with darker red sleeves and white/green collar trim, red
shorts and red socks |
Captain |
Eshan Hajsafi |
Head Coach |
Carlos Manuel Brito Leal de Queiroz 69 (1
March 1953 in Nampula, Portuguese Mozambique), re-appointed 7 September 2022
for second time (previously 4 April 2011-28
January 2019). |
28th captaincy |
this tenure - third match, W 1 - D 1 - L 1 - F 4 - A 7. total - 103rd, W 61 - D 28 - L
14 - F 185 - A 67. |
Iran Lineup |
1 |
Beiranvand, Alireza S.,
injured (7:14), off 19th min. (18:56) |
30 61 days |
21 September 1992 |
G |
Persepolis FC |
54 |
0 |
2 |
Moharrami, Sadegh G. |
26 242 days |
24 March 1996 |
RB |
Gnk
Dinamo Zagreb, Croatia |
23 |
0 |
8 |
Pouraliganji, Morteza |
30 216 days |
19 April 1992 |
RCD |
Persepolis FC |
48 |
3 |
|
48th min. for trying to tackle a sprinting Harry Kane, bringing him down. |
15 |
Cheshmi, Rouzbeh,
off half-time |
29 120 days |
24 July 1993 |
CD |
Esteghial FC |
21 |
1 |
19 |
Hosseini, S. Majid |
26 154 days |
20 June 1996 |
LCD |
Kayseri Sk, Turkey |
20 |
0 |
5 |
Mohammadi Keshmarzi, Milad,
off 63rd min. |
29 53 days |
29 September 1993 |
LB |
Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupóleos, Greece |
47 |
1 |
7 |
Jahanbakhsh Jirandeh, Alireza,
off half-time |
29 102 days |
11 August 1993 |
RM |
Feyenoord Rotterdam, Netherlands |
66 |
13 |
|
25th min. for going in late on Luke Shaw and standing on his boot. |
|
|
|
21 |
Nourollahi, Ahmad, off 76th
min. |
29 323 days |
2 January 1993 |
RCM |
Shabab Al-Ahli Club, UAE |
28 |
3 |
18 |
Karimi, Ali N.,
off half-time |
28 283 days |
11 February 1994 |
LCM |
Kayseri Sk, Turkey |
15 |
0 |
3 |
Hajsafi, Ehsan |
32 269 days |
25 February 1990 |
LM |
Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupóleos, Greece |
123 |
7 |
9 |
Taremi, Mehdi |
30 126 days |
18 July 1992 |
CF |
FC do
Porto, Portugal |
62 |
30 |
|
63rd
pen against scored
(92nd overall) |
|
Iran
Substitutes |
Concussion Substitution
|
30 175 days |
30 May 1992 |
G |
Esteghial FC |
8 |
0 |
24 |
Hosseini, S.Hossein, on 20th min.
(19:01) for Beiranvand |
scoreline:
England 3 Iran 0 |
6 |
Ezatolahi Afagh, Saeid, on half-time for
Karimi |
26 51 days |
1 October 1996 |
CM |
Vejle Bk, Denmark |
49 |
1 |
17
|
Gholizadeh Nojedeh, Ali, on half-time for
Jahanbakhsh |
26 256 days |
10 March 1996 |
RM |
Royal Charleroi SC, Belgium |
28 |
6 |
13 |
Kanaani Zadegan Keshmarzi, M. Hossein, on half-time for
Cheshmi |
28 243 days |
23 March 1994 |
CB |
Al-Ahli SC, Qatar |
37 |
1 |
scoreline:
England 4 Iran 0 |
16 |
Torabi, Mehdi, on 63rd min.
(62:35) for Mohammadi |
28 72 days |
10 September 1994 |
AM |
Persepolis FC |
38 |
7 |
scoreline:
England 5 Iran 1 |
20 |
Azmoun, Sardar, on 76th min. for
(75:45) Nourollahi |
27 324 days |
1 January 1995 |
F |
Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Germany |
66 |
41 |
result:
England 6 Iran 2 |
unused
substitutes: |
4-Shojae Khalilzadeh,
10-Karim Ansarifard, 11-Vahid Amiri, 12-Seyedpayam Niazmand, 14-Saman Ghoddos, 22-Amir
Abedzadeh, 23-Ramin Rezaeian,
25-Abolfazi Jalali. |
team
notes: |
Goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand, in reaching for a Harry Kane cross,
received a collision in the head by his own player Majid Hosseini
(7:14) on the six yard-line and went down for treatment, which
he received almost immediately, three minutes later, reserve
goalkeeper Hossein Hosseini began his warm-up routine, and was soon
ordered to prepare to replace the keeper
(12:25), however, the only thing that was replaced was
Beiranvand's jersey (13:30) with
Hosseini waiting on the touchline. Play resumed with Beiranvand
wearily taking a goalkick (15:38).
When the ball next went out of play for an England throw-in
(16:10), Beiranvand signalled for
himself to finally be replaced, afterwhich he laid himself down
(16:19) and waited for the
stretcher to take him off (17:30). |
records: |
This is Iran's worst defeat in a World Cup Finals match, beating the
previous record of 1-4 against Peru in 1978. |
manager Carlos Quieroz has been in charge of six countries in his time as a
coach, Portugal, United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Iran, Colombia and
Egypt... but this is his first match against England. |
|
5-4-1 |
Beiranvand (H.Hosseini)- Moharrami,
Pouraliganji, Cheshmi (Kanaani Zadegan),
Hosseini, Mohammadi (Torebi) - Jahanbakhsh (Gholizadeh), Noorollahi
(Azmoun), Karimi (Ezatolahi), Hajisafi - Taremi |
Averages (Starting XI): |
Age |
29 years 147
days |
Appearances/Goals |
46.1 |
5.1 |
|
As someone who remembers the turgid goalless draw against Uruguay in the first group match of the 1966 World Cup, the opener of the 2022 tournament was an
altogether different kettle of fish! "Surely we should beat Iran?" was the consensus of
opinion, but in football, anything can happen, and us regular England watchers have seen it all. This time, however, it was almost all good news.
Right from the start England dominated possession with Jude Bellingham, Declan Rice and Mason Mount in command of the midfield, and feeding the ball forward at
every opportunity. There was also fine support from Luke Shaw and Kieran Trippier
down the flanks, and that stretched Iran's defence to the limits. On three minutes the first of many Trippier crosses so nearly found Raheem Sterling until it was intercepted
by a defender at the last moment. A few seconds later, how England were not
awarded a penalty will remain a mystery for years to come.
Harry Maguire, up for a corner, was grappled to the ground by 5, using both hands in a grip that Jackie Pallo (who?) would have been proud of. It was so blatant that
everyone saw it. A penalty? No, as the referee didn't give it and no-one felt the need
to call in VAR. Nobody could understand the decision, but no matter, on with the game. England continued to press and Maguire was almost on the end of a fine cross
by Harry Kane, alas his shot hit the side-netting. A few seconds later the Iran
goalkeeper, Alireza Beiranvand, punched clear, only for him to collide with a defender in a nasty collision. The keeper was obviously in real trouble and the
game's protocol and common sense should have seen him substituted there and then.
Instead we had a very prolonged stoppage, heightened by him going down again a few moments later, this time he finally had to go off. In the first 15 minutes of the game,
only about six minutes were actual game time.
Not surprisingly both sides were unsettled by the injury and play was scrappy for a
while. A shot by Bukayo Saka relieved the tension but it was an easy save for the
new keeper, Hossein Hosseini. Then. on 30 minutes Saka centred to the near post and Mount so nearly scored, just steering his shot wide of the post. Two minutes later,
Maguire, in attack again at a corner, and this time his header struck the corner of post and crossbar before being hacked clear. Was it going to be one of those days
perhaps? We didn't have to wait long for the answer to that question.
On 35 minutes a fine cross from the left by Shaw, was met by a marauding
Bellingham, and his looping header dropped into the net in the top corner. The Borussia Dortmund player thus joined Michael Owen as the second youngest World Cup goalscorer for England. The goal was also the trigger for better things from
England. With two minutes of the 45 remaining, Saka scored another as Maguire,
always in the action, headed down for Saka to rifle the ball home. The look of delight on the youngster's face said it all. Two minutes later, England were in dreamland. A
fabulous cross from Kane from the right was met brilliantly by Sterling who volleyed
the ball home with the outside of his foot. Good move, good cross and a great finish. The first half was up, or so we thought until the referee added on 14 minutes of time,
mainly due to the goalkeeper's unfortunate injury.
The second-half started slowly and the first incident of any note was when Shaw had a
shot blocked. Meanwhile, Bellingham was still the dominant figure in the match,
however, on 62 minutes it was Saka again who showed his class. Sterling passed to him and Saka just glided past defenders before calmly slotting home a sublime finish.
You know England well though, don't you, and it was never going to be totally straight forward. On 65 minutes Iran pulled a goal back. Gholizadeh gained
possession just outside the box, and fed a delightful pass into the path of their top
striker, Medhi Taremi, and his first time shot gave Jordan Pickford no chance. The goal was taken with some aplomb, but Pickford was furious at losing his clean sheet.
Just a lapse of concentration by England, and a message for the future perhaps.
With 20 minutes to go England made some substitutions. Maguire came off, after
apparently feeling unwell, it was revealed later, whilst Saka, Sterling and Mount made
way for Marcus Rashford, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish to grab a taste of World Cup action. Just a few moments later, manager Gareth Southgate was congratulating
himself as Rashford scored with his first touch. Well, actually it was his third touch. Pickford's long clearance found Kane, who cleverly held off a defender before
passing to Rashford. The striker controlled the ball with his first touch, cut inside a
defender with his second touch, and calmly shot his goal with his third. A fine goal, which will do the youngster a power of good.
Southgate then rested Kane, replacing the skipper with Callum Wilson, and with a minute of normal time to go, a powerful tackle by Bellingham saw the ball fly into the
path of Wilson, galloping at speed down the right. He ran hard to the byeline before
pulling the ball back to Grealish, who had a simple task to score. What a delight that was, especially as the Manchester City player made a young lad from Manchester
very happy by remembering to do the ‘wiggly worm' celebration especially for the
ecstatic 12-year-old Finlay Fisher back home. A lovely touch.
Another 12 minutes were added on, making a mockery of the 90 minutes the game is
supposed to last, making 26 minutes of added time all told! What is that all about, although in the early games being played all have had long added extras.
On 90+8 minutes, Pickford made a fine save from Sardar Azmoun, tipping the shot
onto the bar and away, but there was still time for one last piece of action, and a rather
controversial decision, remembering the Maguire penalty incident earlier. A cross came into the England box, and the usual jostling was going on, but suddenly and
inexplicably, VAR was called in by the referee. An innocuous shirt pull by John
Stones was spotted and a penalty was awarded. Taremi scored his second from the spot, and it was virtually the last kick of the match. An annoying end, but nothing
could take away the overall satisfaction of the England performance and win.
Man of the Match? Bellingham or Saka, I'll let you decide.
|