West Ham United's Declan Rice was pleased to play his part in England's 'positive start' at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The 23-year-old Rice, winning his 35th cap, produced a measured performance in midfield as Gareth Southgate's men beat Iran 6-2 in their group B opener.

And he knows exactly what is expected of him in their remaining group fixtures as they prepare to play the USA on Friday and Wales on Tuesday.

"I know my role in this team. I am there to stand in front of the back four, protect, get on the ball and move it around," he told the Evening Standard. 

"I feel like we did that really well. We stuck to the game plan and, in the end, the spaces opened up. You saw the goals we scored with some really lovely play."

Jude Bellingham headed England in front on 35 minutes, after a lengthy delay due to an injury to Iran's staring goalkeeper, and Bukayo Saka fired home a superb second.

Raheem Sterling then volleyed home from captain Harry Kane's cross in stoppage time and Saka made it 4-0 just past the hour mark.

Mehdi Taremi replied for Iran and, after substitutes Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish netted to put England 6-1, struck again from the penalty spot with virtually the last kick.

"It was a positive start," Rice added.

"There were a lot of doubts about us before the tournament. There has been a lot of talk about us not winning in our last six matches. By our standards, with the players we have got, we know that it hasn’t been good enough.

"But this was a World Cup stage and you could see there was a fire in our bellies. We wanted to prove a lot of people wrong. People will say ‘it’s only Iran’ but they have had some good results at past World Cups. In September, they beat Uruguay and drew with Senegal."

Bellingham, 19, caught the eye with a mature display and earned praise from his midfield partner.

Rice said: "We have played together four or five times now.

"I said to him in the tunnel: ‘This is your stage, go and flourish. I’ll be there behind you to sweep up and give you the ball for you to go and do your thing'."

And Arsenal youngster Saka, 21, was hailed for his two-goal heroics, after the pain of a missed penalty in last year's Euro final shoot-out loss to Italy.

"It’s unbelievable what he’s done," Rice said of Saka.

"It says everything about his strength of character. You saw what happened last summer, everyone was with him then.

"He is flourishing with Arsenal, he is playing with a smile on his face. You see him around the training ground, he is the happiest person around the place. We are all so happy for him.”

West Ham's Nayef Aguerd helped Morocco draw 0-0 with Croatia, with the defender blocking an effort from clubmate Nikola Vlasic, currently on loan at Torino, but Thilo Kehrer was an unused substitute as Germany suffered a shock 2-1 defeat against Japan.