England will play their round of 32 game in Atlanta on July 1, most likely against Senegal or DR Congo, after defeating Panama to win Group L.
England won their opening game against Croatia 4-2 but were frustrated in a 0-0 draw with Ghana and failed to score in the opening half of the game at New York New Jersey Stadium (AKA MetLife), too.
Marcus Rashford, starting for the first time at this World Cup, and Harry Kane both had good chances in the early part of the second half before Jude Bellingham stabbed in from a corner on 62 minutes.
Kane headed in a second to become England’s leading scorer in World Cups with 11 goals, putting him one behind Brazil great Pele, seventh on the all-time list. Panama’s Jose Fajardo had their first goal of the tournament ruled out for offside in stoppage time.
Panama are out the World Cup and the result means England avoid a path that would have seen them face Portugal or Colombia and then likely Spain if successful. Winning their round of 32 game would now send them to Mexico City in the round of 16 on July 5 to face co-hosts Mexico in their capital city or Ecuador.
Jack Pitt-Brooke, Nick Miller, Thom Harris and Liam Tharme break down the key moments.
What next for the teams in group L?
England finished top of Group L and will play their last-32 opponents in Atlanta on July 1. Who the opponent is remains to be seen but The Athletic’s projector makes Senegal (58 per cent) or DR Congo (42 per cent).
The bracket puts the winner on course to play a round of 16 game against either Mexico or Ecuador in Mexico City on July 5.
Runners-up Croatia will most likely play either Colombia or Portugal (the second team in Group K) in Toronto on July 2, with Spain a likely round of 16 opponent in Dallas on July 6.
Ghana finished third and will play whichever of Colombia or Portugal tops Group K in Kansas City on July 3.
Panama finished bottom and are eliminated.
How good are England?
There was a huge sense of relief when England finally broke through in the second half.
For a few minutes, Thomas Tuchel’s side had been heading for second place in Group L, which would have meant a long trip to Toronto in the last-32 and then a likely game with Spain in Dallas in the last-16. By breaking Panama down and winning 2-0, they have won Group L with seven points, an impressive achievement given what a tough group it is.
But are England actually any good? They had to labour hard to break through here, and for a long time it felt like a continuation of the Ghana game, where England lacked the ingenuity to break down a tough side.
Perhaps that is an unfair criticism. Lots of games in this World Cup look something like this. There are no prizes for style at this stage in the tournament.
And yet, there still feels something a bit patchy about England. They conceded plenty of chances here, more than in the Ghana game.
Their defence does not look solid and Jarell Quansah went down with an apparent injury here, further weakening their full-back options. Under a real test in the next round, better opposition could cause them real problems. There are some strengths in this team, but some fragilities too.
Jack Pitt-Brooke
Did Rashford take his chance?
Rashford’s inclusion was one of five changes from their stodgy goalless draw with Ghana, having played only 25 minutes off the bench across the opening two games. Despite a few lapses of concentration, his pace in-behind and eye for a long range shot meant this was another impactful display.
He drew the first save of the game after he chopped inside and fired a low drive towards Orlando Mosquera’s near post, taking a long diagonal down with a neat touch moments later. Though his crossing was wayward throughout the first half, he carried a number of attacks with his direct dribbling, and looked much more dangerous against a low-block defence than Anthony Gordon four days ago.
Marcus Rashford started for the first time at this World Cup (Photo: Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
This was only the third time since the start of 2020 that Rashford has been given a full 90 minutes in an England shirt. Though he couldn’t cap it with a goal at the last, he has put himself in a good place to get another opportunity in the knockouts.
Thom Harris
Where does Kane stand among World Cup greats?
Kane is at that stage of his career where he keeps ticking off records.
He took the all-time England goalscoring record some time ago, but is now well on the way to doubling the previous mark, and ensuring his record won’t be beaten for a very long time.
His header against Panama took him to 82 goals in total for the national team, but also meant he moved one clear of Lineker as England’s all-time record World Cup scorer.
That’s three in this tournament now, adding to the six (and the golden boot) he managed in 2018, and two in 2022.
The next record he has in his sights is the all-time caps record: this was his 117th appearance, putting him eight behind the current record holder, Peter Shilton, who has 125. By the time Shilton reached that number, the goalkeeper was a virtual liability, clearly past his prime and arguably doing more harm than good.
Not so Kane. He’s almost getting better as he ages — he’s certainly not getting worse, and if England are to progress at this World Cup, they will need Kane to add a few more goals to his tally.
Nick Miller
What did Anthony Barry say this time?
England assistant manager Anthony Barry’s half-time perspectives, always interesting and often slightly critical, tend to focus on the tactical execution of England’s game plan. In the opening 45 minutes against Panama, he judged that they played the occasion, not the match.
“Our guys wanted to start the game fast. The stadium was amazing — it felt like a home game,” he said of MetLife Stadium. “But all of this energy, it almost skewed our risk management. We had too many ball losses, too many central ball losses, and that opened up to counter-attacks against a dangerous team.”
The direct approach, which manifested as balls in-behind for runs by No 8s Bellingham and Morgan Rogers, and switches of play to wingers Bukayo Saka and Rashford, felt like a tactic to avoid a repeat of the patient passing which struggled to break down Ghana last time out. Faced with a set 5-4-1 defence, they did not want to push their opposition back and face a low block, rather find the spaces beyond the defensive line before Panama could retreat, though this did lead to unwanted turnovers.
Of England’s passes in the opening 45 minutes, 16.7 per cent were progressive — defined by Opta as a pass which goes at least 10 yards forward or into the box — their highest share in the first half of a major tournament game since 2018. Barry felt England ended the half with more control, and said “synchronicity, rhythm and routines,” were needed for more incision after the break.
Liam Tharme
How did England’s new full-backs perform?
Following a bright start, England quickly began to run into problems against Panama’s compact 5-4-1 shape.
Thomas Christiansen’s side spread themselves across the pitch and worked hard to compact the space through the middle. Kane was tracked by whichever of the three centre-backs was closest, while Bellingham and Rogers struggled to get on the ball and turn in a tight midfield battle.
That shifted much of the attention out wide, where England’s full-backs were not always able to help their wingers when they got on the ball. On the left, Nico O’Reilly was tasked with drifting inside, leaving Rashford to take on his man himself, while Quansah was hesitant to get forward, nominally the right centre-back whenever England had the ball.
Neither played poorly. O’Reilly carried the ball well through midfield while he had the chance, while Quansah stuck to his defensive duties well. There were a handful of moments when the pair made overlapping runs to take defenders away, but O’Reilly’s role and Quansah’s centre-back skillset meant England often ran into blind alleys out wide. Quansah is now also an injury concern after going off following a challenge.
Jarell Quansah falls to the grass a MetLife after appearing to suffer an injury (Photo: Bradley Collyer/PA Images via Getty Images)
It begs the inevitable question: against teams who sit deep, might a player of Trent Alexander-Arnold’s profile have been useful, to create chaos with his deliveries into the box? What about Lewis Hall on the other side, more of a traditional overlapping full-back who could create space for wingers to cut inside?
Bellingham’s neat finish from a corner — England’s third from set pieces this tournament — helped to open up the game. But with teams such as Ecuador on their side of the bracket, another side who will defend rigidly in a back five, they may need a little more from their combination play out wide.
Thom Harris
Why can’t England score in the first half?
One thing that the contenders at this World Cup have generally had in common is early goals.
Brazil’s latest opening goal in their three group games came after 32 minutes. Germany scored early in two of their three games. So did France. Argentina have been ahead by half-time in both their games at the time of writing. Portugal, for all their struggles against DR Congo, were ahead by the sixth minute in their first two games. Even the United States were ahead by the 11th minute in all of their games.
This is where England have struggled in their last two games, against opponents who have defended well in Ghana and Panama, but who they should really have been able to penetrate.
It was impossible not to draw comparisons with the last time these two teams played at a World Cup, eight years ago: while admittedly that was a weaker Panama team, England were 5-0 up at the break in that game and went on to win 6-1.
You could argue that, given England eventually did score after an hour, what real difference does 15 minutes make? But in games like this, the sooner the higher-ranked team scores, the less stressful the remainder of the game is.
By not being able to break through in the first half, England are making things much more difficult for themselves.
Nick Miller
