Roy Keane leaves his fellow ITV pundits in stitches with his withering assessment of Iran

Roy Keane left his fellow ITV pundits in stitches with his withering assessment of Iran after they were thrashed 6-2 by England in their 2022 World Cup opener.

The Three Lions run riot as they took a 4-1 lead early in the second-half thanks to a brace from Bukayo Saka and goals from Jude Bellingham and Raheem Sterling at the Khalifa International Stadium before making wholesale changes in the 70th minute.

Marcus Rashford scored after just 49 seconds in his first England appearance since missing a penalty in the Euro 2020 final, while Jack Grealish also netted to make it 6-1 before Iran scored a late controversial penalty.

ITV pundit Roy Keane gave a brutal assessment of Iran after England thrashed them yesterday

Iran were thrashed 6-2 by England in their 2022 World Cup opener at the Khalifa Stadium

The Manchester United legend was asked to give his verdict on Gareth Southgate’s side victory ahead of the 1-1 draw between Wales and USA yesterday evening.

And in true Keane fashion, he delivered a brutal message that left Eni Aluko and Hal Robson-Kanu in fits of laughter, as he commented in sheer disgust of Iran’s embarrassing performance after praising the Three Lions.

Keane responded: ‘But Iran… shocking.’

Keane’s brutal assessment of Iran left fellow ITV pundits Hal Robson-Kanu (left) and Eni Aluko (right) in stitches

The Irishman is known for his honesty and it’s not the first comment that he’s made that has left other pundits in laughter during the World Cup, yet we’re just days into the major tournament in Qatar.

On the opening day, former Manchester United Gary Neville claimed that Saudi Arabia could almost have a home advantage over Argentina, Mexico and Poland in the group-stages.

Neville said: ‘Second in that group? Saudi Arabia? They’ll bring tens of thousands of fans because they can drive over the border.’

The Irishman has already previously hit back at Gary Neville’s comments on Saudi Arabia

Keane fired back with a sarcastic response: ‘And can they play for them?’.

His witty response saw Neville and Micah Richards erupt into laughter in the studio on the opening day.

It has not been all laughter from Keane though, as he also criticised England and Wales for deciding not to wear the OneLove armband against discrimination at the World Cup after fears their captains could be suspended if they went against FIFA protocol.

Both associations opted not to go ahead with the gesture in Qatar – despite previously vowing to pick up any fines or punishments – with England skipper Harry Kane and Wales captain Gareth Bale instead wearing FIFA-approved armbands.

Keane said the countries made a ‘big mistake’ by deciding not to wear the ‘OneLove’ armband

But Keane believes the two nations made a ‘big mistake’ to back down on their gesture and claims they should have stood up for their beliefs and taken any repercussions that came their way.

‘I think the players could have done it for the first game – took the punishment, whatever that might be,’ he told ITV. ‘If it’s Kane you’re risking getting a yellow card, but that would have been a great statement.

‘Do it for the first game, get your yellow card and what a message that would have been. Take your medicine and in the next game you move on. You don’t wear it because you don’t want to get suspended but, I think it was a big mistake because both players – Wales and England – should have stuck to their guns and done it. 

‘No matter the pressure from the outside and the associations, have the belief, if that’s what you believe, then go with it.’