Saka, Rashford help England rout Iran 6-2 at World Cup

Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford put last year's European Championship loss behind them, combining to score three goals in England's 6-2 rout of Iran on Monday at the World Cup in Doha, Qatar.

Both players missed penalties in the shootout loss to Italy in the Euro 2020 final and were then subjected to racist abuse. A year later, Saka scored twice at Khalifa International Stadium and Rashford came off the bench to add another with his first move of the match.

It has been a difficult buildup for England, but this was a performance that will provide encouragement to coach Gareth Southgate, who has recently endured the most troubled period of his England tenure.

He was booed after a 4-0 loss to Hungary in June and was humiliated by his own fans when they chanted, "You don't know what you're doing."

Hundreds of fans missed the start of the match because of an issue with digital tickets. When they eventually made their way to their seats, they witnessed an utterly dominant display from England.

Jude Bellingham scored the first goal in the 35th minute, his first international goal.

Iranian goalkeeper exits after collision

Saka then got his first of the match in the 43rd and Raheem Sterling added another in first-half stoppage time. Saka scored his second shortly after the hour, but Mehdi Taremi pulled one back for Iran in the 65th minute.

Rashford struck six minutes later to extend England's lead to 5-1, and Jack Grealish also stepped off the bench to add a sixth in the 90th. Taremi added another for Iran from the penalty spot deep in injury time after John Stones was penalized for holding Morteza Pouraliganji's shirt in the box.

The game was delayed for several minutes in the first half when Iran goalkeeper Ali Beiranvand clashed heads with a teammate. He was eventually taken off the field on a stretcher with the score still 0-0.

His replacement, Hossein Hosseini, was left with the unenviable task of facing England's potent attack.

There was concern for English striker Harry Kane, but Gareth Southgate said Harry Kane was not injured despite concerns when he went down in the second half and was later substituted.

"I think Harry is fine," the coach said. "It looked a bad tackle, but he carried on and we took him off because we thought it was a moment when we could do that."

The match had a total of 29 minutes of injury time, 15 minutes in the first half and 14 in the second.

After the match, Iran coach Carlos Queiroz pleaded with fans to support the team following apparent boos during the national anthem amid protests in the nation for women's rights.

"All the Iranians in the stadium are welcome, and feel free to criticize," he said. "Those who come to disturb the team with issues that are not only about football opinions are not welcome... It is not their fault that the World Cup happens at the moment. 

England faces the United States on Friday and Iran takes on Wales.

USA, Wales split points after Bale's late PK

Gareth Bale converted a penalty kick in the 82nd minute to offset Tim Weah's first-half goal and give Wales a 1-1 draw Monday in the return to the World Cup for both nations.

Weah, a son of former FIFA Player of the Year and current Liberian President George Weah, scored after a pass from Christian Pulisic in the 36th minute.

"The most important thing was that we didn't lose," Weah said. "We kept a tie, and now we just focus on the next game."

Back in the World Cup after missing the 2018 tournament, the United States appeared headed to victory. But Walker Zimmerman plowed down Bale from behind and referee Abdulrahman Al-Jassim of host Qatar pointed to the penalty spot.

Bale put his kick to the left of goalkeeper Matt Turner for his 41st goal in 109 international appearances, salvaging a point for Wales in its first World Cup match since 1958.

Tim Weah, just 22, was part of a new-look American team that is the second-youngest in the tournament.

Yunus Musah at 19 years, 358 days, became the youngest American to start a World Cup match, 19 days and Tyler Adams at 23 became the youngest U.S. World Cup captain since Harry Keough and Walter Bahr in 1950.

In the 750th international match in United States history, the Americans started a record 10 players from European clubs, with only Zimmerman from Major League Soccer.

Three Americans picked up yellow cards : Sergiño Dest, Weston McKennie and Tim Ream. Meanwhile, Gareth Bale and Chris Mepham received yellows for Wales.

Next up for the United States matchup against England on Friday, the same day Wales faces Iran.

Netherlands strike late to beat Senegal

Cody Gakpo and substitute Davy Klaasen scored late to give the Netherlands a 2-0 victory over Senegal at the World Cup on Monday.

Gakpo rose to glance in a cross by Frenkie de Jong in the 84th minute with the Dutch team's first effort on target in the Group A game at Al Thumama Stadium. Klaasen added a second right at the end of eight minutes of stoppage time by slotting in after Edouard Mendy only weakly blocked a shot from Memphis Depay.

The orange-shirted Dutch fans had been subdued until the late strikes as the Senegalese drums and chants were the dominant sound from the stands for much of the game. But Senegal's main problem was predictable: Without injured forward Sadio Mane, it couldn't convert any of its chances.

At the back, Netherlands goalkeeper Andries Noppert pulled off three key saves to keep the African champions at bay after the Dutch coach decided to give him his international debut in a key World Cup game and just two months after he was called into the national squad for the first time.

"His quality is he can stop balls and he did that three times today," Van Gaal said, "and he did it perfectly."

The Netherlands can secure a place in the round of 16 if the team beats Ecuador in its next game. Senegal faces a must-win against host Qatar.

Iranians in Qatar join the protest

Iran's players didn't sing their national anthem and didn't celebrate their goals. In the stands, many Iranian fans showed solidarity with the protest movement that has roiled the country for months.

Iran's World Cup opener Monday against England was not just about soccer, but the political struggles gripping the Islamic Republic. And for some Iranian women, barred from attending men's soccer matches at home, it was a precious first chance to see the national team live.

Iran is competing in the World Cup amid a violent crackdown on a major women's protest movement that has resulted in the deaths of at least 419 people, according Human Rights Activists in Iran.

People have said that the team is representative of the country's people and not its ruling Shiite clerics. Some players have even spoken out on social media in solidarity with the protests. The team's star forward, Sardar Azmoun, has been vocal about the protests online. He was on the bench during the match, to the dismay of fans who said they were looking to him to make a gesture of protest on the pitch, but some observers note that the players are likely facing government pressure not to side with the protests.