Full highlights and analysis from England's rout of Iran in 2022 World Cup opener

"Everybody knows the present circumstances, of the environment of my players is not the best environment, in term of commitment, concentration, because they are affected by those issues," he said.

"They are human beings, they are kids, I know them for a lot of years, they only have one dream, to follow the legends of the Iran country, play for the country, play for the people, and enjoy playing for the people.

"I am very proud of them, the way they stand up, keep fighting, and scored two goals against England under these circumstances.

"They did well, very proud of what they did. But of course if you want one example, in 2014 and 2018, we had full support from fans.

"Now, you saw what happened today. That’s why I invite the fans of Iran who are not here already to support the team, they should stay at home.

"Why do they come here to not support the team? It would be much better for them to stay at home. We don’t need them. It’s something the players feel when they are not playing.”

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