By Ed Holt, Henry Zhang, Harry Thorfinn-George, Sam Rucker

Despite the rainy weather, England fans made their way to venues across London yesterday to support the national team in their opening match against Iran. While there was cause for celebration at England’s 6-2 victory the looming topic of the host nation and their poor human rights track record did not escape fans’ minds. 

The Qatar World Cup has been wrapped in controversy after a report by the Human Rights Watch suggests that Qatar continues to arrest LGBTQ+ citizens, as homosexuality is illegal there. The England squad was also forbidden from wearing their “OneLove” armbands, which is a campaign set up by the Dutch FA in 2020 to “condemn all forms of discrimination”. 

More controversy occurred yesterday as some fans were shut out of the Lusail Stadium in Qatar, without being able to access online tickets due to issues surrounding QR codes not loading on the World Cup app.  

Back in East London, Monday blues soon turned into football cheer as England cruised to victory in their first game. 

Eastlondonlines spoke to fans to find out their reactions. 

Katherine Wainwright, 58, from Croydon watched the match in Boxpark. She was “over the moon” with the result and believes “it’s coming home”.  

However, Wainwright had concerns about the host nation: “I’m worried about it out there, the weather is too hot”.   

On yesterday’s controversy surrounding Kane’s armband, Katherine said: “That decision pissed me off. I’ve got lots of gay friends, it’s not fair, everyone deserves to be treated like humans”. 

In Tower Hamlets, 25-year-old Ronan Metier an employee at Classic Football Shirts London, found it very “tricky” to talk about the World Cup in Qatar. 

Metier spoke of the “hypocrisy” and “finger pointing” of this tournament: “If you look at Russia in 2018, when they were hosting, Russia was in Syria fighting… and also in Senegal, where AFCON [Africa Cup of Nations] was, it is also illegal to be gay. There is an element of English and Western culture that just holds a mistrust for the Middle East.” 

He recognised there were “legitimate reasons” for the controversy: “First and foremost, there has been a lot of cover-ups in terms of stats and deaths of migrant workers. Also, it’s de facto knowledge that Sepp Blatter was bribed for this World Cup.” 

Iranian Ghazal Parjak, 31, a nanny and painter, watched the game at the Lewisham Tavern on Lee High Road. As an Iranian woman, today’s game was about more than football: “I’m here to support the England team. It’s hard for me but people are being killed in my country and if they don’t care about us, I don’t care about them.” There have been ongoing protests in Iran since September 16 which started with the death of 22-year-old woman Mahsa Amini.  Asked who she thought would win this year she said: “England maybe, why not!”  

Essex co-workers Meghan Thomas, 23, and Rebecca Phillips, 21, both work as insurance brokers in Canary Wharf, they watched the game at the Dark Horse in Whitechapel.  

Despite the time difference with Qatar and most matches being scheduled during their workday, the pair were unfazed. Phillips said: “This morning everyone from the office rushed into the pubs, so we did too. I don’t expect to have any emails when I get back [to the office]… We didn’t take any time off work for this, and I hope we can do the same thing for all the England games!” 

Thomas was not focused on the politics around the tournament: “I’m still going to support my country and my team, no matter what!” 

In the Cock Tavern, Hackney, Steven Harris has been to two World Cups. The 60-year-old retired government employee said that, despite it being a “corrupt decision”, it was a good idea to take the World Cup around the world: “[Qatar is] a small country. It’s from a region of the world where football is not a traditional sport, so it’s good …not just to always to have it in Europe or South America.” 

Michael Sheppard, a 28-year-old employee of a chocolate company, also in the Cock Tavern, said: “It [the World Cup] interrupts the Premier League, which is very annoying. I think the work that was done to make this happen in Qatar has caused a lot of people a lot of suffering… and I really disagree with it strongly. I think after this is finished… there should be a lot of questions about their [FIFA’s] handling of how countries get World Cups.” 

“6500 people have died… It’s absolutely horrible. I hate the fact that the World Cup is in Qatar. I will watch the World Cup, but I’d never consider flying there.” 

In terms of who might win the world cup, Sheppard would prefer to see England win, but thought “France is a realistic answer”. 

Back in Lewisham, Oscar Brown, 24, was indifferent about the controversy surrounding the World Cup: “The football’s still going to play regardless… all we want is England to play well and there to be some good results.” 

When asked about the November date he said: “Having the world cup in the middle of the season is terrible… I love England but I want Arsenal to win the Premier League.” 

Brown’s predictions are positive: “I think we’ll top the group stage.” 

Elliot Small, 26, who works as a transport operator disagrees with the world cup being in Qatar, although says: “It’s a bit late to play the morale police… It’s hard to say we’re preaching a message of tolerance if we’re not tolerating their culture.” 

Small acknowledged the lack of beer gardens and sunshine: “It’s a bit weird, it’s raining and it’s November”. But he remains optimistic saying: “I think we’re a good side and this might be our golden generation… This is our time!” 

Tom Stone, 24 is a development chef and was joined by Ryan O’Donahue, 25, working in finance and Charlie Austin, 25, who works in television. They all watched the match in Boxpark. 

Stone was “absolutely buzzing” with England’s performance. O’Donahue summarised his feelings as “good football, happy boy”.  

Austin described England’s two conceded goals as “mishaps”. He believed England would learn from the mistakes for the next game. They all agreed that England could now make it to the semi-final, at least. 

When asked their opinions on Qatar, Stone said: “We’ve got to remember the atrocities that happened during the stadiums’ construction, keep that in mind but also enjoy the football. The World Cup is the world’s game; you can’t pick who hosts it. If you’re willing to host you have to include everyone, so perhaps the competition shouldn’t be there.” 

England’s next game is against the United States on Friday at 7pm.