England are through to the quarter finals of the World Cup. A 3-0 victory over Senegal was secured with no shortage of quality and plenty of reasons to be cheerful, despite the looming figure of France in the last eight. Jude Bellingham shone brightest, pulling the strings and having a hand in England’s most effective creative moments. The 19-year-old looks like England’s best chance of developing a talent to rival the likes of Kylian Mbappe, who scored earlier in the day. The PSG forward was also 19 when he won his first World Cup after all…
Senegal marked themselves out as live underdogs early. Boulaye Dia squeezed in between a sleeping Harry Maguire and John Stones for an early chance. A poor pass from Maguire also saw the familiar figure of Ismaila Sarr go close. His shot was blocked by Stones, with a VAR check ruling out the allegation he had used his arm to do it.
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Jordan Pickford did use his arm though, when it came time to deny Sarr again. The Watford forward twisted and turned to outfox England’s back line before his shot was heroically beaten away by the wrist of the goalkeeper.
It took England a while to get going after a staid opening, but get going they did. Harry Kane dropped deep and laid the ball off for Jude Bellingham. The 19-year-old raced into the box and pulled the ball back for Jordan Henderson, who finished with calm aplomb. It was the first well thought out attack from England and it bore fruit.
They managed to emulate it just minutes later. On the stroke of half time, Bellingham won the ball on the edge of the England box. Rather than play it safe, the precocious teenager ran through the centre circle before finding Phil Foden. The Manchester City star slotted in Kane who finished masterfully. England’s captain will be glad to have finally got off the mark at these championships. The one-two punch was cruel on Senegal, but showed the talent that lies within this often-handcuffed England side.
Harry Kane tops off a swift counter-attack to make it 2-0 to England!! 🙌🏴
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Senegal made a trio half time changes, but they could not stop the English tide. Bukayo Saka, in for brace-scorer Marcus Rashford, justified his selection by converting a Foden cross. The deft touch of Saka was just enough to lift the ball over Edouard Mendy. Another fine goal in what was turning into quite the Three Lions display.
Three goals to the good, England boss Gareth Southgate had the freedom to make changes. It says a lot that Foden and Saka’s replacements, Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish, would start for many of the nations left in the tournament. England might not boast a singular generational talent just yet, like Kylian Mbappe for example, but their strength in depth cannot be questioned.
This youthful, vibrant England side will face their toughest test next. The reigning world champions await in the quarter finals. Mbappe, Olivier Giroud and co looked ominously sharp in their 3-1 win over Poland earlier in the day. But England looked similarly effective here. What is clear is that Bellingham, Saka, Foden and the rest of these young Lions will not be daunted. In the cutthroat world of knockout football, that’s half the battle.