What was the Jack Grealish celebration for and who is the 11-year-old England and Man City fan?

Grealish tapped home the Three Lions’ final goal from close-range as they despatched Iran 6-2, marking the moment with a broad smile as he stretched his arms out to the side and rolled them in in waves.

Far from being a flippant or spontaneous reaction, the Manchester City forward was keeping a pledge he made to 11-year-old Finlay, who has cerebral palsy.

Finlay wrote to his favourite player earlier this year, referencing Grealish’s close bond with sister Holly, who also has the condition.

“I wish there were more people in the world just like you who treat people with disabilities the same as anyone else,” Finlay wrote.

Grealish followed up with a letter of his own and also made a surprise visit to meet Finlay in person at a football session run by the City In the Community programme.

It was there that he pledged to dedicate his next goal to Finlay, who initially suggested the more challenging dance move ‘the worm’ before settling on the arm gesture Grealish recreated in Qatar.

“First of all I’ve got to try and score, then I’ll do it for you, but I’ve only scored once this season,” Grealish said, in a video captured by the Premier League.

“I’ll do it for you, I promise, next time I score.”

England’s quest for glory in Qatar got off to a dream start as Bukayo Saka’s brace helped Gareth Southgate’s men roar to a 6-2 victory against Iran in their World Cup opener.

Having reached the semi-finals four years ago and finished as Euros runners-up last summer, the Three Lions arrived among the favourites despite a six-match winless run and Nations League relegation.

England started in style as superb Saka scored twice in his first major tournament appearance since missing his spot-kick in last year’s European Championship final defeat to Italy.

Marcus Rashford has not represented the national team at all since missing his attempt in that shootout and netted within minutes of coming on in a thumping win that Jude Bellingham, Raheem Sterling and Grealish also scored in.

England boss Gareth Southgate was pleased with the win, but admitted he was annoyed to concede two goals.

“I’m a bit fed up with the end of it really,” Southgate said. “To win by that margin, to play as we did for the majority of the game, I’ve got to be really happy.

“But we shouldn’t be conceding two goals at that stage and we’ll have to be right on our game against the (United) States. It’s a great start but we’re going to have to be better.

“It’s a consequence of the scoreline a bit, we had 24 minutes of added time which is a long time to focus but we just lost concentration and when we play at a slower tempo we’re not anywhere near as effective.

“I’m a miserable so and so, I should be more excited but I’ve got to keep the team on the right track and we will have to be better.”