Iran`s players did not sing their national anthem before their first game of the World Cup against England on Monday, in apparent support for anti-government protesters in their homeland.

Ahead of the game in Qatar, captain Alireza Jahanbakhsh said the team would decide together whether or not to refuse to sing the anthem in a show of solidarity for demonstrations that have rocked the regime in Iran. The Iranian players stood impassively and grim-faced as their anthem rang out around the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha.