TYROS STAR AS THREE LIONS WHIP IRAN 6-2

Bellingham and Saka get England off to great start in game of political statements

- Sazali Abdul Aziz

The Beatles would probably have never imagined their 1968 hit song Hey Jude being belted out by thousands in Qatar.

But that was the scene at the Khalifa International Stadium on Monday, as England got their World Cup campaign off to a flying start with a 6-2 thumping of Iran.

Young starlets Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka stood out in a game which started with both sides making strong political statements.

Iran's players stood stoic and silent during their national anthem, in apparent solidarity with antigovernment protesters, who have taken to the streets of Teheran for the past two months following the death of a 22-year-old woman while in custody of the country's morality police.

Their supporters, who made up the majority of the 45,334 inside the stadium, also whistled loudly as the anthem was being played, and roared after it ended.

England's players, meanwhile, became the first at the World Cup to take a knee, a gesture against racism and inequality.

However, the brief act happened for a few seconds as the stadium counted announcer down the final 10 seconds before the game kicked off.

Hundreds of supporters reportedly missed the act due to a ticketing app issue.

Fifa said in a statement that it was working on the glitch, with only a handful of fans seen seeking assistance in obtaining tickets 15 minutes after kick-off.