Four pointers as England get World Cup campaign off to flying start

DOHA - England produced a stunning performance, beating Iran 6-2 to get a flying start to the World Cup finals on Monday night. Here are come pointers to take from a very convincing performance.

Criticism of Harry Maguire maybe premature

Whether or not Maguire should start was the subject of debate before Monday's game. In the end, England coach Gareth Southgate kept faith in the big man and his faith was rewarded.

Maguire looked to have been the victim of a clear foul in the Iran penalty area as early as the third minute when he was wrestled to the ground.

He then headed against the Iran crossbar and was inches away from opening the scoring, before his header from another corner set up Bukayo Saka for England's second goal of the game.

There may be some question over how Mehdi Taremi got behind him for Iran's goal, moments he went off complaining of dizziness, but for the moment, Maguire has proved Southgate was right.

Midfield mobility hard to stop

Jude Bellingham's impressive display will probably get the headlines, but all of the England midfield played well and Iran were never able to deal with their movement on and off the ball.

With Declan Rice solid in the holding role, Mason Mount and Bellingham were free to make runs deep into the Iran half and with Saka and Raheem Sterling also varying their movement, Iran struggled to see where the next attack from coming from.

Harry Kane also helped as his movement across the front and also dropping deep to create space for Mount, Bellingham and Sterling to run into - as the first and the third goals showed.

Full backs also played a big role

A lot was also made pre-tournament over the loss of Chelsea wingbacks Ben Chilwell and Reece James, but Luke Shaw and Kieran Trippier were excellent.

Trippier didn't put a foot wrong in defense, linked well with Saka down the right, and his delivery from set pieces was always excellent, while Shaw put over a pinpoint cross for Bellingham to head in the opener and his set pieces were also effective.

Minutes for everyone

The ease of the win also allowed Southgate to make a host of changes for the last 20 minutes, with Marcus Rashford, Jack Grealish, Eric Dier, Phil Foden and Callum Wilson all getting valuable match time.

Rashford took advantage of his minutes by scoring England's fifth after barely a minute on the pitch, while Foden, Wilson and Grealish also worked hard with the last two combining to score England's sixth while also allowing Kane to enjoy a well-earned rest.

Teams will suffer injuries and suspensions in a tournament like the World Cup and having your replacements up to speed can only be a good thing.