West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice has been praised following his performance in England's opening World Cup game against Iran. 

The Latest: England beat Iran

Gareth Southgate's side managed to kick off their campaign in Qatar with an emphatic 6-2 win over Iran in their first group game of the tournament.

Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish found themselves on the scoresheet to help England secure the victory.

However, despite not getting a goal, it was Rice that found himself on the receiving end of some hefty praise for his efforts in the game.

The Latest: Praise for Rice

As England walked in at half-time 3-0 up, journalist Henry Winter was full of praise on Twitter about what he saw from Rice in the game.

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He said: "Declan Rice playing such an important role, covering, keeping the shape, intercepting and redistributing. Such an intelligent player. #ENG excellent. 3-0 h-t."

The Verdict: A strong performance from Rice

As one of the five outfield players to complete the full 90 minutes for England against Iran, the midfielder had 104 touches of the ball in total.

Having successfully completed 90 of the 95 passes he attempted in the game, this gave Rice a passing accuracy percentage of 95%, leaving only Jude Bellingham (97%) and John Stones (99%) with higher numbers out of the starting XI.

The Hammers star also made three interceptions, more than any other player, one tackle and blocked one shot in the game as well, highlighting his defensive ability when not in possession.

 

Football.London picked up on the 23-year-old's efforts by saying in their player ratings article that he "covered every blade of grass in midfield as he took up the role and sat in front of the back four."

They also added that the West Ham figure "was often seen in advanced positions as England dominated but he did his job in splitting up the play from deep very well and will be satisfied with his performance overall."

Taking all of this into account, it's safe to say that the midfield maestro had a strong start to his tournament and will undoubtedly be hoping to do the same again throughout.