England’s Fifa World Cup campaign opened in thoroughly convincing fashion as they outclassed Iran in an incident-packed match in Doha. Gareth Southgate’s side strolled to victory, with Iran’s hopeless plight made worse by the early loss of goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand to concussion after a clash of heads with team-mate Majid Hosseini.
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Callum Robinson scored the only goal of the game as Ireland finished their fixture list for the season with a dull win in Malta. Stephen Kenny’s men failed to impress against their weaker opponents an ominous sign with European Championship qualifying to come next season.
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Enner Valencia scored a brace as Ecuador condemned host nation Qatar to an opening game defeat. Valencia converted an early penalty kick and guided a fine header into the Qatari net in a first half blitz that left the hosts stunned as they struggled throughout.
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Red Bull’s Max Verstappen claimed his 15th and final victory of the season as the Formula 1 season came to a close in Abu Dhabi. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished second ahead of Sergio Perez to deny the Red Bull driver second place in the World Championship by three points.
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France striker Karim Benzema has been ruled out of the World Cup after suffering an injury to his left thigh during training on Saturday in Doha, the French federation have confirmed. The 2022 Ballon d’Or winner felt a strong pain in his quads during a sprint toward the end of the training session.
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