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England demolished Iran 6-2 in the Three Lions’ crucial opening game World Cup win in Qatar. But was it England’s biggest-ever World Cup win?
The Three Lions' youngsters Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka netted in the first half-hour, while Raheem Sterling scored his first-ever World Cup goal to see the Three Lions head into half-time with a comfortable 3-0 lead against Iran.
The second half saw Saka score a second, while Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish added a fifth and sixth. For Iran, Mehdi Taremi scored a second-half brace, including an injury-time penalty after a controversial VAR decision.
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It was a brilliant Three Lions display that stands Gareth Southgate’s side in good stead for the rest of the tournament. But what is England’s biggest-ever World Cup win?
England vs Panama
England’s victory is their second biggest-ever World Cup win.
Four years ago England defeated Panama 6-1 in the group stages, scoring a whopping five goals in the first half alone.
Harry Kane scored twice while centre-back John Stones also netted a brace. Meanwhile, Jesse Lingard, who now plays his football at Nottingham Forest, scored the pick of the goals with a curled effort from distance.
The 6-1 victory surpassed England’s previous biggest World Cup win against Denmark in 2002.
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That day Rio Ferdinand, Michael Owen and Emile Heskey were the goalscorers as the Three Lions won 3-0.
Biggest World Cup win ever
The biggest-ever winning margin in a World Cup is nine goals, which has been achieved three times in the competition’s history.
In 1954 Hungary beat South Korea 9-0, while Yugoslavia demolished Zaire 9-0 in 1974. Eight years later Hungary (again) won 10-1 against El Salvador.
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The biggest World Cup win this millennium is Germany’s 8-0 win over Saudi Arabia in 2002. Die Mannschaft also famously demolished Brazil 7-1 demolition in the semi-final of the 2014 World Cup.
Topics: Football, England, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Gareth Southgate, Football World Cup, Qatar
Chris Byfield