David Beckham was spotted watching on as England started their World Cup campaign with a 6-2 thrashing of Iran.
Beckham, who has been heavily criticised for his £150million ambassadorial role with Qatar, was pictured in the stands of the Khalifa International Stadium as Gareth Southgate's side ran riot.
Jude Bellingham broke the deadlock for England in the first half with a stunning header before Bukayo Saka doubled the lead just minutes later. Raheem Sterling added a third ahead of the half-time break and Saka grabbed a stunning second goal to nudge England into a commanding 2-0 lead.
Iran fought back through a shock goal from Mehdi Tarebi before goals from second-half substitutes Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish restored England's four-goal advantage. Tarebi grabbed a second from the penalty spot with the final kick of the game after VAR intervened.
But while England's young lions roared on the pitch, Beckham - a former Three Lions captain and talisman - was captured on camera looking subdued in the hospitality area of the stadium.
Beckham has been heavily criticised by LGBT+ groups over the 10-year deal he agreed with Qatar. Currently, homosexuality is illegal in Qatar and is even punishable by death in some circumstances.
Despite scrutiny over his role - including a high-profile campaign from Joel Lycett - Beckham broke his silence last week and insisted that Qatar and its ambassadors were changing lives for the better.
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England's commanding win over Iran was preceded by a row over the 'OneLove' armband that the Three Lions and eight other European nations had committed to wearing before the tournament to promote diversity and inclusion in Qatar.
The FA and Harry Kane had made it clear that they were open to paying a fine after FIFA ignored their request to wear the rainbow armband. However, they changed their stance over fears that players could be booked instantly as a result of the 'OneLove' armband.
The decision was slammed in separate statements from the FA, the FAW and the Football Supporters Association before the match, and Southgate admitted to BBC Sport that he was also disappointed with the outcome.
"A lot of discussions have been going on without me involved because I’ve been focusing on the game," Southgate said on Monday morning.
"We are wearing the FIFA armband which has been agreed by collective federations which was agreed overnight I believe. We are in the middle of that, we’re trying to focus on the game frankly."
In their statement, the FA outlined that England will "show support in other ways" throughout the tournament.
