The pressure was on the Three Lions to get off to a strong start against favourable opposition.
Many expected Carlos Queiroz and his Iran outfit to make England’s Group B opener as difficult as possible, but after they were eventually forced into an early goalkeeper substitution, England came on strong, carving open the opposition’s defence and creating chances with ease.
And when Jude Bellingham headed them in front after 35 minutes, fans were frenzied and the nation cheered in equal amounts of relief and ecstasy. Before they could even comprehend taking the lead, Bukayo Saka had made it 2-0 after 43 minutes, exquisitely finding the back of the net with a half-volley from Harry Maguire’s knock down.
Fans went wild with another young starlet coming good on the world stage.
One minute into a glut of added time following the injury delay earlier on, Raheem Sterling made it 3-0, brilliantly getting onto the end of a low cross from Harry Kane and putting the game to bed.
Half-time eventually came, and England fans had plenty to be happy about. But the all-important question needed to be asked.
Important? Sort of. Silly? Absolutely. 45 minutes into a game against favourable opposition and fans have decided it’s case closed – of course it’s coming home.
But while most people had their eyes on England’s attacking stars, there was flowers to be given to Maguire – who was denied a goal himself only by the crossbar and played an important role in the opposition penalty box. No, really.
At this point, the comparisons began to run wild. Maguire-mania, brother.
And then came the second half, which looked set to be just as chaotic as the first thanks to a glut of goals and injury fears.
One goal wasn’t enough for Saka, who burst through after an hour and grabbed his brace in equally sublime fashion. Again, fans were of course composed in their response.
With England three to the good, Southgate readied the mass change. Unfortunately for Maguire, he limped off injured and headed straight down the tunnel after Iran nabbed one back through Mehdi Taremi.
But that wasn’t enough to kill the mood, as Marcus Rashford came off the bench and grabbed his first World Cup goal to make it 5-1.
The forward has enjoyed a serious resurgence under Erik ten Hag at Manchester United and boy did it show in his cameo.
Jack Grealish made it six in a breath-taking England display with stunning performances across the pitch, but Iran were able to hit back once more as Taremi made it 6-2 from the penalty spot in injury time, following a VAR review from an admittedly-tame John Stones challenge.
Having denied Maguire what appeared to be a stonewall penalty earlier on in the game, questions were asked.
But, controversy aside, England can still be pleased with their work and sit pretty atop of Group B, heading into Friday’s clash with the United States with a rather healthy goal difference.
