England have thrashed Iran 6-2 in their opening World Cup game in Qatar.
The match at Khalifa International Stadium marked the first-ever encounter between the two teams and saw thousands of fans pack the stands to watch the action unfold.
Before kick-off, some England supporters struggled to enter the stadium due to an issue with the FIFA ticketing app.
The World Cup has been largely overshadowed by non-sporting issues, including criticism of Qatar’s human rights abuses.
In an apparent act of support for protesters back home, Iran’s side chose not to sing their country’s national anthem before the game began.
Within minutes of the match beginning, Iran’s goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand was clattered in the head during a collision with one of his teammates, forcing him to the ground and eventually taken off the pitch on a stretcher with a suspected concussion.
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It was in the 35th minute that England secured their first goal, which was scored by 19-year-old Jude Bellingham.
‘We’re disappointed to concede two’
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Speaking after the game, Bellingham, whose goal marked his first one in an international game, said it was a “really proud moment”.
“The start was tough, and we had to dig it out,” he added. “It’s important to learn how to create chances against these kinds of sides, but we’re disappointed to concede two.”
The side kept pressure on Iran and Bukayo Saka scored a second goal in the 43rd minute before Raheem Sterling made it 3-0 in first-half stoppage time.
Saka also scored the fourth goal in the 62nd minute, before Iran pulled one back in the 65th minute with Mehdi Taremi firing past Jordan Pickford, who could only get a hand to the strike.
Marcus Rashford calmly made it 5-1 in the 71st minute, moments after coming on to the pitch as a substitute, and Jack Grealish added to the scoring in the closing minutes of the match.
After securing his goal, Grealish celebrated on the pitch by doing a dance that he had promised to perform to an 11-year-old fan with cerebral palsy.
Iran made it 6-2 in added time after Taremi converted a penalty, which was awarded after the VAR advised the referee to review images of his shirt being pulled.
‘We lost concentration’
Manager Gareth Southgate said the result was a “good start” for England, but they “need to do better”.
“We had 24 minutes of added time across the game… the mistakes were a consequence of the score line so it’s a long time to focus, and we lost concentration,” he explained.
“The first half was sticky with lots of stoppages, but our pressing and movement was really good. We shouldn’t be conceding two goals at that stage of the game, so we will have to be right on our game against the States.”
England are now due to face the United States on Friday.
Specialist search teams, police dogs and divers have been dispatched to find two sisters who vanished in Aberdeen three days ago.
Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32, were last seen on CCTV in the city’s Market Street at Victoria Bridge at about 2.12am on Tuesday.
The siblings were captured crossing the bridge and turning right onto a footpath next to the River Dee in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club.
Police Scotland has launched a major search and said it is carrying out “extensive inquires” in an effort to find the women.
Chief Inspector Darren Bruce said: “Local officers, led by specialist search advisors, are being assisted by resources including police dogs and our marine unit.”
Aberdeenshire Drone Services told Sky News it has offered to help in the search and is waiting to hear back from Police Scotland.
The sisters, from Aberdeen city centre, are described as slim with long brown hair.
Police said the Torry side of Victoria Bridge where the sisters were last seen contains many commercial and industrial units, with searches taking place in the vicinity.
The force urged businesses in and around the South Esplanade and Menzies Road area to review CCTV footage recorded in the early hours of Tuesday in case it captured anything of significance.
Drivers with relevant dashcam footage are also urged to come forward.
CI Bruce added: “We are continuing to speak to people who know Eliza and Henrietta and we urge anyone who has seen them or who has any information regarding their whereabouts to please contact 101.”
Britain’s gas storage levels are “concerningly low” with less than a week of demand in store, the operator of the country’s largest gas storage site said on Friday.
Plunging temperatures and high demand for gas-fired power stations are the main factors behind the low levels, Centrica said.
The UK is heavily reliant on gas for its home heating and also uses a significant amount for electricity generation.
As of the 9th of January 2025, UK storage sites are 26% lower than last year’s inventory at the same time, leaving them around half full,” Centrica said.
“This means the UK has less than a week of gas demand in store.”
The firm’s Rough gas storage site, a depleted field off England’s east coast, makes up around half of the country’s gas storage capacity.
Glasgow has been a city crying out for solutions to a devastating drugs epidemic that is ravaging people hooked on deadly narcotics.
We have spent time with vulnerable addicts in recent months and witnessed first-hand the dirty, dangerous street corners and back alleys where they would inject their £10 heroin hit, not knowing – or, in many cases, not caring – whether that would be the moment they die.
“Dying would be better than this life,” one man told me.
It was a grim insight into the daily reality of life in the capital of Europe’s drug death crisis.
Scotland has a stubborn addiction to substances spanning generations. Politicians of all persuasions have failed to properly get a grip of the emergency.
But there is a new concept in town.
From Monday, a taxpayer-funded unit is allowing addicts to bring their own heroin and cocaine and inject it while NHS medical teams supervise.
It may be a UK-first but it is a regular feature in some other major European cities that have claimed high success rates in saving lives.
Glasgow has looked on with envy at these other models.
One supermarket car park less than a hundred metres from this new facility is a perfect illustration of the problem. An area littered with dirty needles and paraphernalia. A minefield where one wrong step risks contracting a nasty disease.
It is estimated hundreds of users inject heroin in public places in Glasgow every week. HIV has been rife.
The new building, which will be open from 9am until 9pm 365 days a year, includes bays where clean needles are provided as part of a persuasive tactic to lure addicts indoors in a controlled environment.
There is a welcome area where people will check in before being invited into one of eight bays. The room is clinical, covered in mirrors, with a row of small medical bins.
We were shown the aftercare area where users will relax after their hit in the company of housing and social workers.
The idea is controversial and not cheap – £2.3m has been ring-fenced every year.
Authorities in the city first floated a ‘safer drug consumption room’ in 2016. It failed to get off the ground as the UK Home Office under the Conservatives said they would not allow people to break the law to feed habits.
The usual wrangle between Edinburgh and London continued for years with Downing Street suggesting Scotland could, if it wanted, use its discretion to allow these injecting rooms to go ahead.
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The stalemate ended when Scotland’s most senior prosecutor issued a landmark decision that it would not be in the public interest to arrest those using such a facility.
One expert has told me this new concept is unlikely to lead to an overall reduction in deaths across Scotland. Another described it as an expensive vanity project. Supporters clearly disagree.
The question is what does success look like?
The big test will be if there is a spike in crime around the building and how it will work alongside law enforcement given drug dealers know exactly where to find their clients now.
It is not disputed this is a radical approach – and other cities across Britain will be watching closely.