World Cup: Gareth Southgate admits England ‘lost focus and concentration’ in win against Iran

Gareth Southgate fired a clear warning to his jubilant team after their 6-2 victory over Iran in their World Cup opener as the England players were brought back to earth with a bang.

The England boss was furious at his team’s concentration during the closing stages of their victory here at the Khalifa Stadium on Monday, as they conceded twice in the second half to take the shine off their victory.

And Southgate says his team can forget about winning the World Cup if that becomes a trend here in Qatar.

England boss Gareth Southgate sent a warning to his players despite beating Iran 6-2 in their World Cup opener after accusing them of losing their ‘focus and concentration’

England’s huge lead was cut back by two strokes in the second half by Mehdi Taremi (right)

“We are very happy that we started this way. Really happy with our attacking play,” said Southgate.

“We know that Iran is usually difficult to score against, so that’s a credit to our players, their movement, quality of their passes, quality of our finishing.

“But I didn’t like the end of the game, conceding two goals is not the form we need. We will have to be better than we were today in certain aspects of our game against the US because they will come full throttle for us and we will have to reset.”

Southgate said he was pleased with his side’s dominant display against Iran on Monday but said they will have to ‘reset’ and be ‘better’ in their next game against the United States

He wants his side to maintain a high pace after admitting they struggled to keep things tight during 24 minutes of added time, which was an “unusual feeling for some players”.

England had to play a total of 24 minutes of stoppage time – 14 in the first half and 10 in the second – an unusual feeling for some players, and Southgate said a drop in pace was understandable.

The England coach said: “I don’t want games where we drift like this. It was difficult because there was so much extra time in both halves.

“I understand that the focus is drifting a bit, but that will not be enough to progress in the tournament. So we still have a lot to do to qualify, but it’s still a very good start for us.”

England stormed to victory with goals from five goalscorers – including a brace from Bukayo Saka

Overall, however, Southgate was pleased with his team’s start: ‘We’ve been talking to the players all week about setting the right tone, the right intention in our performance.

“It was because of the way we pressed the ball and the way we used the ball when we had it.

‘We varied our game, we didn’t just play for the opponent. We were constantly behind and we have to be like that, we have to mix the game.

“So it’s a great start for us, it’s a good platform to build on, but there are things we need to get better at as we progress into the final stages.”