England put 6 past Iran as Bale makes history

 Monday saw the start of Group B, and England started with a 6-2 win. Then Holland took a precious 3 points from Senegal in a game that wouldn't make it in the realms of classics, and USA and Wales played each other to an entertaining 1-1 draw.

Jude Bellingham with his first goal.

England started their World Cup campaign against the 20th-ranked Iran, and Gareth Southgate started with a big statement by having Harry Maguire in his starting 11 in a 4-3-3 system. The England team was Jordan Pickford in goal, the defence of Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire, John Stones and Kieran Trippier: a midfield of Jude Bellingham, Declan Rice and Mason Mount: the three up front were Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka and Raheem Sterling. During the national anthems, the Iranian fans and players did their own protest, this time against their own government on the country's human rights protests by the fans shouting down and the players not singing the national anthem.

The game started with England building momentum and screaming for a penalty that was not given but would be a massive talking point later on. There was also a stoppage for 15 minutes as the Iranian goalkeeper suffered a concussion in the 10th minute but tried to play on before being forced to go off. Then in the 34th minute, the goals started with Jude Bellingham guiding Luke Shaw's cross into the goal first, his 1st ever international goal. Then in the 43rd minute, Bukayo Saka got his 1st goal of the game, and then, at halftime, Raheem Sterling scored his first goal in the World Cup.

Rashford scored his first World Cup goal.

The second half started off just like England ended the first half, with the team dominating possession and looking like they were going to add some more goals. However, Saka got his second of the game just after the hour and made it look comfortable at 4-0. Then Iran scored a goal to make it a bit nervous for England when Taremi snuck behind Maguire to make it 4-1. Then 5 minutes later, after having only 3 touches of the ball, Marcus Rashford scored his first World Cup goal to make it 5-1 England. Then in the 90th minute, Jack Grealish cooly slotted in Callum Wilson's cross pass to make it 6-1. Iran got a penalty late in stoppage time, which became controversial as England had a more blatant penalty in the first half, which wasn't given. Taremi scored it, but it was more of a consolation goal.

Cody Gapko scored the first holland goal.

The second game of the day was Senegal vs Holland. This game was not exactly the one that will go down in the history of World Cup classics. Senegal played without talisman Sadio Mane as he was ruled out of the World Cup. However, the big shock in team news was Holland picking Andreis Noppert, who was unemployed just two years ago and was told by his family to join the police for his first-ever Holland cap. The game was slowly meandering to a 0-0 draw, but then Holland sprung to life in the last 10 minutes with 2 goals by Cody Gapko and Davy Klaasen to snatch the 3 points.

The last game of the day was the USA vs Wales. The USA was back with a team of players playing in Europe's top tiers. Meanwhile, Wales is playing in their first World Cup since 1958 and came in looking to add more memories to their nation's recent history. Before kickoff, both teams did their national anthems, and just as much as the Star Spangled Banner sent a shiver down Wales' spine when Wales' anthem started, it was like France 2016 all over again as Old Land of My Fathers was heard throughout the stadium, and the Red Wall made themselves heard.

Cometh the hour, Cometh the Bale

America had the run of the first half, absolutely dominating Wales in every department. In the 34th minute, Timothy Wear scored the goal they deserved, and Wales went in at halftime, looking like the occasion had gotten to them. Then after halftime, Rob Page decided to change the style of play and took Dan James off and brought on Keiffer Moore. He then looked to take the game to the Americans and started to threaten the American goal, with the closest being a glancing header off a corner which went just over the bar. Then in the 81st minute, Bale went down for a foul in the box, and the referee gave Wales a penalty. There was no debate about who was taking the penalty. Wales' standout player for the past decade as Bale hit his penalty hard past the keeper to make it 1-1, making him Wales' first goal scorer in the World Cup since Terry Medwin in 1958. Wales then looked like they would go and snatch it, but after a tense 9 minutes of stoppage time, it finished 1-1, with the team from the principality feeling happier.

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KRO Mark