England feared they'd be banned from World Cup pitch in FIFA armband row

England feared their World Cup opener would have been STOPPED because of the One Love armband row.

Three Lions captain Harry Kane could been blocked from playing or the whole team forced to leave the pitch because FIFA were determined to crackdown on the anti-discrimination gesture.

The German FA accused FIFA of "extreme blackmail" and are now considering legal action while Belgium defender Jan Vertonghen expressed fears that he could be kicked out of the tournament.

England boss Gareth Southgate has insisted they will not follow Germany's example - their players covered their mouths before the opening game to show they had been gagged - as it his job now to focus on football.

But Southgate admitted that they feared the worst over FIFA's punishment because their messaging was "not really clear" in a fiery meeting with seven nations the night before England's game with Iran and if Kane had been booked in the dressing room any protest would have been left unseen.

The FA had joined with six other nations - Germany, Holland, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland and Wales - in promising to wear the armband but England were fearful of the impact on the players and then decided to abandon the protest.

Southgate said: "I don't know all the ins and outs because I wasn't in the meeting but there was definitely a feel there were sanctions and not all of those were really clear, I think, so the decision was taken out of the hands of Harry.

"The decisions from the organisation were not even putting the armband in the dressing room. There is no discussion, that's done. The player had no say in that. But what that exactly looked like I don't know because I wasn't in the meeting. It's not something I've wanted to spend more time on."

Southgate did insist there would be no more gestures and they were not planning anything against the United States but insisted they had already raised awareness.

Southgate added: "There's a risk that everybody tries to escalate.Could we try to produce a better video than Australia did? That would be impossible. Do we have to come up with a better gesture than Germany did?

"I think we've got to be comfortable with what we stand for. That's not to say we won't do anything moving forward if the timing is right.

"If we rush into being seen to do something, then we could make an error which doesn't land well. At this moment in time, the players and myself especially, we've got to be focusing on the game. Of course the FA takes its responsibilities seriously. We're never going to duck any questions."

Read more

Qatar World Cup 2022

FIFA responds to Germany protest

Fabregas baffled by referee's decision

Spain hammer seven past Costa Rice

Neuer questions Germany team-mates