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England had gone six games without a win prior to their Group B opener, but the pressure on Southgate following their relegation from the UEFA Nations League in September would have been well and truly lifted after a 6-2 thrashing of Iran at at Khalifa International Stadium on Tuesday (AEDT).
The Three Lions scored three times inside 11 minutes to find themselves 3-0 up at half-time, with 19-year-old Borussia Dortmund star Jude Bellingham breaking the deadlock with a perfectly weighted header, before in-form Arsenal attacker Bukayo Saka and recent Chelsea signing Raheem Sterling followed suit with two clinical finishes before the interval.
Saka danced his way through a sea of Iranian defenders to claim a second at the hour mark, with substitutes Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish piling on the misery for the AFC affiliates late on, netting in between two consolation strikes from Porto forward Mehdi Taremi.
SBS World Cup analyst Craig Foster was full of praise for the performances of England's bright young talents during the SBS post-match show and particularly 21-year-old Saka, whose 11-goal 2021/22 Premier League season has since been matched by four more goals to begin Arsenal's table-topping start to the campaign.
Foster also singled out Rashford, who has matched Saka for goals in the current Premier League season, and the much-maligned Sterling, who has struggled for both and country in recent times, having scored only once for England since September last year before finally the back of the net in their Qatar 2022 opener.
"You heard Martin [Tyler] keep talking about the fact that they're in season, so they're fully fit," Foster said.
"And that definitely showed. They're also in form, so Saka's having an amazing season, Rashford's in great form for Manchester United, [Harry] Kane has been doing well, Sterling’s back in form after a difficult start to the season.
"So they were absolutely phenomenal. Saka was just brilliant. One of the finest young players in the tournament."
Meanwhile, Three Lions manager Southgate, who won his ninth match at a major tournament overnight - becoming the coach with the most wins in the national team's history - was subject to heavy scrutiny from fans in the lead-up to the Iran match due to his decision to start the out-of-form Sterling and Red Devils centre-half Harry Maguire ahead of the likes of star Manchester City midfielder Phil Foden.
The risk taken on Sterling ultimately paid off for the England head coach upon contributing their third goal of the match, but a struggling Maguire, who has made only four Premier League appearances this season after being both sidelined from a hamstring injury and being sensationally omitted by Erik ten Haag early on in the current campaign, was at forefront of England's defensive troubles once again in their World Cup opener.
Although Southgate's recently deployed 4-2-3-1 formation seemed to steady the England back-line for the majority of the Iran match, a moment of hesitation from Maguire shortly before his injury-enforced substitution led to Taremi being able to sneak in behind the defender to claim Team Melli's first goal of the afternoon.
The lapse in concentration did not go unnoticed by Foster.
“There was very little not to like about this English performance,” he said.
“In the second-half [they made] four changes [substitutions] in one go, they had a couple of opportunities.
“They [Iran] bring one back here, so there were a couple of moments. This ball goes in behind Maguire which is a bit of a worry, and then of course, he got bit concussed, but he got caught out there as well.”
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