Before the start of the match, outside the Khalifa International Stadium, it was the Iranian fans who were dictating the terms. Dancing and celebrating, they were making their presence felt. A tall and well-built England fan was at the receiving end of a few taunts from a short-statured Iranian supporter.

The mood changed once the match began with England showing Iran who the boss was. Gareth Southgate’s men snuffed out the contest in the first half itself taking a 3-0 lead in the World Cup Group B match on Monday.

In the end, the scoreline read 6-2 and England definitely made a statement of intent. On a pleasant afternoon, England’s young lions shone and Southgate’s lads ended their six-match winless streak.

The likes of Jude Bellingham, 19, and 21-year-old Bukayo Saka are the new stars of this England squad and the fortunes of the perennial underachievers — who just have a 1966 World Cup victory to showcase — in Qatar depend on the performance of the young lot.

Borussia Dortmud’s Bellingham scored the first, Arsenal’s Saka the second and then senior pro Raheem Sterling of Chelsea got into the act. Saka got his second two minutes after the hour mark, and substitutes Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish got the fifth and sixth respectively. In between, Mehdi Taremi got one for Iran and again with the last kick of the match from a penalty.

In the build-up to the game, Carlos Queiroz’s Iranian side was expected to put up a fight but they just went AWOL on match-day. Probably the media focus on whether they would boycott the national anthem or not unsettled the team. They did not sing the anthem as a mark of protest against the regime back home but failed to get their act together on the field.

It also did not help Iran that goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand was substituted early on after suffering a head injury. Beiranvand collided horribly with his teammate Hosseini Majid and had to receive medical attention for nearly 13 minutes. He tried to continue after receiving treatment but slumped to the ground the very next minute. Seyed Hossein Hosseini replaced him.

All those delays resulted in a total of 27 minutes of injury time.

From the kick-off, it was England who dominated the show with a wave of attacks. Teenage midfielder Bellingham underlined why some of Europe’s biggest clubs have got him in their sights. He became the first player born in or after 2000 to score at the World Cup.

A clue to his dominance: he completed 40 out of 40 passes in the opening half, 10 of them in the final third of the pitch.

“There was a lot of talk and speculation about our form but we showed everyone how much quality we have and what we can do,” said Saka.