Harry Maguire was forced out of the dominant win over Iran through injury (Picture: Getty Images)
Harry Maguire was forced off during the second half of England’s 6-2 victory over Iran in Qatar on Monday, and despite suffering blurred vision the injury is nothing serious, according to reports.
Maguire was taken off after 70 minutes following Iran’s first goal, with physios carrying out tests on his vision on the field.
It wasn’t clear how the Manchester United man had picked up the problem, but replays showed he was struggling before the goal, after which he was replaced by Eric Dier.
England boss Gareth Southgate was not asked about the issue directly after the game but the BBC reported that Maguire suffered blurred vision, but the problem was nothing serious and he is okay.
There were question marks over whether Maguire would be in the starting XI from the start of the World Cup, but Rio Ferdinand felt he showed why Southgate has such faith in him.
‘Harry justified being picked. 100 per cent. The trust in him the manager has was definitely justified with how he performed,’ Ferdinand said on the BBC.
‘Everything other than the goal he did perfectly well today. He was really, really good, it was a commanding performance.’
Checks were carried out on Maguire on the pitch (Picture: Getty Images)
Other than the injury concern it was an excellent afternoon for England who produced a display of dominance rarely seen from the Three Lions at major tournaments.
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Iran were disrupted early on when goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand was forced off through injury after just 19 minutes, but they showed little sign at any point that they could compete with England.
Southgate’s side were in control throughout the match, although it took 35 minutes for them to make the breakthrough, with Jude Bellingham heading in a Luke Shaw cross to score his first international goal.
Jude Bellingham opened the scoring with a fine header (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)
That opened the floodgates somewhat as England were 3-0 up by half-time thanks to fine finishes from Bukayo Saka and Raheem Sterling.
Saka scored again just after the hour-mark, but there was something to shout about for the Iranian fans as Mehdi Teremi thrashed a powerful effort past Jordan Pickford.
Maguire was taken off immediately after that, with Southgate making four substitutions, including Marcus Rashford, who scored less than a minute after coming on to make it 5-1.
Two other substitutes combined for England’s sixth, as Callum Wilson unselfishly laid it on a plate for Jack Grealish to tuck home after breaking behind the Iran defence and in on goal.
The scoring finally finished with Teremi getting his second from the penalty spot with the last kick of the game.
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Maguire was forced off in the second half.