David Hytner was at New York New Jersey Stadium tonight, and here’s his report. Congratulations to England, commiserations to Panama and Scotland, and thanks to you, dear reader, for sticking with this MBM.
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Harry Kane speaks to ITV. “A solid performance again … against a tricky side … fast, tricky players … they had little moments … overall we controlled it pretty well … first half maybe a little bit sloppy in the final third … got better in the second half … would have liked to see out the game a little bit easier … a bit of a basketball match … overall just a good win … another top performance [from Jude Bellingham] … he’s got the bit between his teeth … [the England World Cup record of 11 goals is] another proud one to reach … let’s hope it’s not the last instalment!”
Post-match postbag. “As a US citizen (England are my other team), England will not face the same desultory, soul destroying tactics emblematic of Concacaf sides who are up against a side that outguns them. This after watching similar USA matches that did not end nearly as well as England. From here on, England will be up against a harder stone that will suit their sword” George Meikle
“Both England goals came from Bellingham getting behind the defence to the byline and forcing defenders to face their own goal. Neither of the wingers (Rashford or Saka, at the time) were doing this” – Andy ‘not that one’ Flintoff
“So Anthony Barry blamed synchronicity, defined as the psychoanalytic view that coincidences signify that the universe is talking to you. I vehemently disagree: it’s a sign of apophenia, the tendency to perceive meaningful connections between unrelated things. Like Marcus Rashford and Harry Kane” – Paul Griffin
“Give Panama their goal! Bend the rules just once - have a heart!” – Adam Kent Ibáñez
“As an Englishman living in Mexico I live in fear of England v Mexico in the last 16” – Gary Marchant
“I hope we tighten up at the back before we play France in the final” – Fin
“Southgate in” – Joshua Keeling
Now a word from England’s man-of-the-match Jude Bellingham: “First job achieved … we came here to do it in sections … we know what level we want to achieve and we did that in the second half … every day we have to try to improve … the assist [pleased me more than the goal] … good combination play … to give it to Harry, who just continues to raise his level, is incredible … he’s the best.”
Tuchel: 'The bigger the games get, the bigger we will get'
Thomas Tuchel speaks to ITV. “We did what was needed … it was what we expected … a tough match against a physical opponent … difficult to score … we were the only team to create this amount of chances and score twice against them … we were very aggressive … very careful with the counter attacks … we deserved to win … [Jude Bellingham had a] good performance again … everyone did what they needed to do … there is more to build on … you have to get so many details right … the tournament starts again now in knockout … we collect our energy … build on what we have … team spirit … fighting spirit … belief … we will step up, the bigger the games get, the bigger we will get … three days, the next match is not a problem … we love that and we are good at that.”
As for Harry Kane breaking Gary Lineker’s World Cup finals goalscoring record with his 11th goal: “Good … it is not the end!”
England top Group L; Scotland eliminated
The other match in Group L has finished Croatia 2-1 Ghana … and Scotland are officially eliminated.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | England | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| 2 | Croatia | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| 3 | Ghana | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Panama | 3 | -4 | 0 |
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England had a job to do, and they did it. It wasn’t totally convincing – the first half was a non-event, and Thomas Tuchel’s men took their foot off the gas a little carelessly after going two up – but Jude Bellingham’s goal and assist earned his side top place in Group L. As things stand, England will be up against Senegal on Wednesday, but let’s wait for the final tranche of first-round matches to be played before addressing that. England can go forward with some confidence, knowing they’ve got plenty of world-class talent capable of seeing them through … but the defence, worried on a couple of occasions tonight by Panama, remains a big question mark.
FULL TIME: Panama 0-2 England
A five-minute burst of Jude Bellingham-infused quality proved the difference. England top Group L.
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90 min +5: Eze has a shot deflected wide, and nothing comes of the resulting corner.
90 min +3: … and now Farjardo throws himself at a left-wing cross in the style of Keith Houchen. He doesn’t quite connect with his diving header like Coventry’s 1987 FA Cup final hero, though Pickford is still forced to intervene at the expense of a corner, from which nothing comes. England’s defence is not convincing at all.
90 min +2: … but there wasn’t much in that. Guehi nearly played him on. Thomas Tuchel isn’t happy about how open England were at all.
90 min +1: … and in the first, Fajardo is sent clear down the middle. He opens his body and whip-cracks a wonderful finish across Pickford and into the top right! But the flag goes up, correctly, for offside.
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90 min: There will be six additional minutes.
89 min: Diaz, who has made an impression since coming on, curls a shot wide right from distance. He’s made for some good watching. Meanwhile a word from my esteemed colleague Beau Dure, who is busy preparing to cover Colombia-Portugal. “I’m seeing some chatter about the Cup ‘coming home.’ Have England fans not seen the brackets, or are they just unaware of the difficulty of beating Mexico in the Azteca, which would be their likely round-of-16 matchup? I think I’d rather fight Tyson Fury in Fury’s neighborhood pub.”
88 min: Madueke crosses long from the right. Rashford scuffs a shot wide left. Then a double change for Panama, who replace Harvey and Gutierrez with Davis and Quintero.
87 min: Croatia have retaken the lead against Ghana, Nikola Vlasic with the goal. The Group L table now has smoke coming off it.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | England | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| 2 | Croatia | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| 3 | Ghana | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Panama | 3 | -4 | 0 |
85 min: Kane and Anderson are replaced by Watkins and Henderson, who becomes the first player to represent England at seven international tournaments.
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83 min: Rogers hopes to make good down the middle, but is cynically tripped and hauled down by Andrade. But it’s not a red card, because he’s so far away from goal. Just a yellow.
82 min: Ghana have equalised against Croatia, which consolidates England’s position at the top of Group L. Will Unwin has the details.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | England | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| 2 | Ghana | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| 3 | Croatia | 3 | -1 | 4 |
| 4 | Panama | 3 | -4 | 0 |
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80 min: Fajardo nearly nips into the England box from the left … but Konsa comes over to take charge, getting his body between player and ball and ushering everything out for a goal kick.
78 min: Spence sashays down the right before shanking a cross out of play. “England were almost unwatchable in the first half but quality will out,” writes Colum Fordham. “Jude Bellingham has single-handedly turned this game around with a rapacious goal, a brilliant cross for Kane and several other delightful touches. He is our creative spark.”
76 min: Diaz looks lively. Now he shoots from a tight angle on the right, winning a corner. And from the set piece, he’s found on the edge of the box, and hoicks over the crossbar. England suddenly look a bit complacent. This is realistically over, yes … but it isn’t actually over yet.
74 min: Diaz, who has just come on, sends a close-range header goalwards after meeting a right-wing cross. “I chose the Stooges and don’t regret it, even though England has scored twice,” writes Rockin’ in the Rockies viewer Tracy Mohr. “Looks like England owes me one.”
73 min: Eze comes on for Bellingham.
72 min: The game restarts. Panama have replaced Barcenas and Jose Luis Rodriguez with Diaz and, aptly monickered for the occasion, Londono.
71 min: As things stand now, England will be playing the sort-of African champions Senegal in the last 32. But the usual to-be-decided caveats apply.
70 min: “I spoke to soon,” says Half-Time Postbag contributor Daniel Storey. “It is almost certainly coming home.”
69 min: … and that’s bevvies.
68 min: That’s Kane’s 11th goal at the World Cup, and he’s now got the record, briefly shared with Gary Lineker, all to himself.
GOAL! Panama 0-2 England (Kane 67)
Like London buses, two come along at once. Bellingham tears clear down the left, twists and turns Escobar, and crosses to the near post. Kane beats Andrade and powers a header into the top left. Game over!
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66 min: That’s put England back on top of Group L, from which they’ll be dispatched into theoretically the easier half of the draw.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | England | 3 | 3 | 7 |
| 2 | Croatia | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| 3 | Ghana | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Panama | 3 | -3 | 0 |
64 min: A free kick into the England box from the left hits Rogers on the arm … but that’s never going to be given. Arm across chest. Then in the second phase, Murillo whips a shot across Pickford and wide left of goal. England a bit sleepy after the sugar rush of the goal.
63 min: The sub was worth waiting for, right? Spence comes on for the stricken Quansah, while Madueke replaces his Arsenal team-mate Saka.
GOAL! Panama 0-1 England (Bellingham 62)
The corner comes in from the left. Bellingham meets it at the near post, and flipper-flicks a shot into the bottom left while dancing/wrestling with Gutierrez. Simple as that!
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61 min: Quansah can’t continue. Before he can be replaced, it’s the corner, from which …
60 min: … and one of them is Quansah, who has gone over on his ankle. Given England’s woes at right-back, this is the last thing they need. He’s also just been booked for previously clattering into an opponent.
59 min: Panama are beginning to sniff opportunity, and are committing more men to attack as a result. But in turn that’s benefitting England, who have more space to romp into. Bellingham makes good down the left and wins a corner. But before it can be taken, there are a couple of fallen soldiers for the physios to deal with …
57 min: Kane strides into space down the England inside-right channel. He smashes a rising diagonal shot that Mosquera parries with a strong hand.
56 min: Anderson ships possession cheaply out on the Panama left. Jose Luis Rodriguez dribbles into a huge pocket of space, Konsa not closing any of it down. He curls powerfully towards the top right … but it’s high and wide. Had that been on target, Pickford might not have been getting there.
55 min: Rashford tears down the left and into the box. He’s got Kane in the middle, but opts to have a go himself instead. He ripples the side netting.
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53 min: No corner, because Kane was blown for fouling. That was a bit soft. When play resumes, Fajardo is booked for a tug on Konsa’s shirt.
52 min: Rashford whips a cross in from the left. Kane hopes to poke home from six yards, but Cordoba gets in ahead, kicking the ball against his own man Andrade and over the bar. Hopefully Tracy Mohr, of Half-Time Postbag fame, hasn’t switched over to the Three Stooges just yet, because she’d appreciate that slapstick genius.
51 min: It’s been very scrappy since the restart, which will suit Panama down to the ground. England are struggling to get any rhythm going.
49 min: Now O’Reilly falls accidentally on Martinez, who needs a spot of treatment. It’s been not so much stop-start in the early part of this second half as stop-stop. Martinez will be fine, though.
47 min: Bellingham takes a whack while wrestling with Cordoba. But he’ll be OK.
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England get the ball rolling for the second half. Panama have replaced Tomas Rodriguez up front with Fajardo, who led their line for the first two games before being replaced for this one.
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Anthony Barry, England number two, does his half-time turn again. “We concentrate on our own game … there’s no easy games at the World Cup … we wanted to start fast … all of the energy skewed our risk management … central ball losses … opened us up to counter attacks against a dangerous team … we then began to use our attacking talent … synchronicity … we have to take care of coverage, and counter attacks.”
We do words, but we also do pretty pictures. Here’s the photo-story of the first half, told through the best images from the match at New York New Jersey Stadium. We’ll keep adding to it, too, so keep that tab open and get refreshing.
Half-time postbag. “And so it begins. You can feel the second-guessing avalanche beginning. Landon Donovan talking about the players Tuchel left off the squad. There is nothing like Three Lions Anxiety and catastrophe thinking” – Mary Waltz
“Let’s be candid. This England team is no improvement at all on Southgate’s regime. They’re physical, quick etc. but they lack finesse. Frankly it’s hard to improve on what Southgate achieved” – Brendan Murphy
“England are playing effortlessly. Maybe if they put in a bit of effort they might get something more than a draw'” – Andy Gordon
“Afternoon from Chicago, Scott. A local channel here shows Three Stooges shorts from 5-7pm on Saturdays. With no loyalties here, watching Curly Howard looks much more entertaining than this tepid match” – Tracy Mohr
“Is it possible that it is indeed not coming home this summer?” – Daniel Storey
In the other Group L match, Croatia lead Ghana 1-0 at half-time, thanks to Petar Sucic’s forensic 25-yard laser into the bottom left. Will Unwin has details of that. It means that as things stand, Croatia would win the group and England would face Portugal in the last 32. But second halves are still to be played, while two other groups, including the one Portugal are in, don’t kick-off their final matches until later. So we’re probably getting ahead of ourselves here. But isn’t it fun to do so?! Ah fair enough. But we’re doing it.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Croatia | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| 2 | England | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 3 | Ghana | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Panama | 3 | -2 | 1 |
HALF TIME: Panama 0-0 England
Not a classic. Thomas Tuchel needs another one of those Croatia half-times.
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45 min +3: Konsa’s slightly underhit backpass is nearly cut out by Jose Luis Rodriguez, but Pickford comes out to blooter clear.
45 min +2: Rashford carefully places the ball, takes a couple of steps backwards, runs up and … whips millimetres wide of the right-hand post. Mosquera had it covered, though.
45 min +1: Kane is bowled over by Harvey, pointlessly so, 25 yards out, just to the right of centre. Rashford and Saka hover over it, ready to deliver.
45 min: There will be three additional first-half minutes.
43 min: Saka one-twos his way into the Panama box from the right and wins England’s fifth corner of the game so far. He takes it himself, but doesn’t beat the first man. A header is bashed clear. Rashford sends the ball back into the mixer, and that’s a goal kick.
42 min: Anderson, the last man, does very well to deal with a flick-on while the lightning-quick Jose Luis Rodriguez scurries around him. Any mistake there, and England were in bother. He could be worth a few quid, this lad.
40 min: “The last time England played Panama they were already three goals up,” observes Phil Sawyer. “Is it too soon to start missing Gareth Southgate yet?”
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38 min: A cross into the Panama box from the right. Rashford climbs highest at the far post, and heads narrowly over the bar. Earlier in the move, Saka claimed to have been clipped in the area by Gutierrez, but replays showed there was no contact, and the ref was right to wave away the penalty claim.
37 min: Croatia have taken the lead against Ghana. A 31st-minute long-range pearler from Petar Sucic. Terrible news for Scotland, who are now almost certainly knocked out, but not great for England either, because as it stands …
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Croatia | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| 2 | England | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 3 | Ghana | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Panama | 3 | -2 | 1 |
35 min: Anderson has a dig from distance. Straight at Mosquera.
34 min: Martinez, quarterbacking from deep, pings a pass down the inside-right channel for Murillo, free in the England box. Murillo miscontrols and it’s a goal kick … but then the flag pops up for offside, Murillo having gone far too early. England’s defence doesn’t look super-secure.
33 min: Guehi floats a pass forward from 40 yards to O’Reilly inside the Panama box. O’Reilly, with his back to goal on the penalty spot, tries to back-flick a header into the bottom left, but Mosquera has it covered and claims like the most casual of basketballers.
31 min: Rogers crosses from the right but the ball is flicked away from danger easily enough. Mosquera in the Panama goal has had very little to do so far.
30 min: … meanwhile on the same subject Richard Cutler would like to say: “These drinks breaks are a joke. I didn’t even have enough time to pour myself a cheeky rum and coke before it restarted. Come on Fifa, give us another minute, at least.” England aren’t putting on much of a show, so youse are all making your own entertainment, it seems.
29 min: “At least England can be thankful the hydration break did not break any momentum.” Ian Copestake with the wry quip of the World Cup so far.
28 min: Panama take a quick throw down the right, from which Harvey swivels and swishes a shot into the England side netting. Pickford had it covered, to be fair. Saka goes up the other end, running hard into the box from the right, but Andrade is on his shoulder and ushers him out of play.
26 min: Not long after the restart, Jose Luis Rodriguez takes advantage of space left down the Panama left by Quansah, and pearls a low drive towards the bottom left. Pickford needs a strong hand to turn around the post. Nothing comes from the corner. From which we can deduce: vindaloo < pork scratchings.
25 min: The curry and pork belly crunchies were tasty, mind you. Play starts again.
23 min: … and that’s drinks. According to our guide, England are bringing a bucket jar of vindaloo cooking sauce, while Panama are serving up some pork scratchings. Spice, salt and saturated fat ain’t gonna cut it for a Hydration Break, baby!
22 min: Kane and Rogers combine cutely down the middle and nearly open Panama up … but when Rogers and Saka try to get involved, hoping to take a shot, they’re swarmed.
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21 min: Murillo crosses from the right, hoping to locate Tomas Rodriguez in the middle. Pickford comes off his line to punch confidently clear. Then up the other end, Bellingham tries to beat Mosquera from an extremely ambitious distance. Nope.
20 min: England press Panama back but the white shirts hold their shape. No way through. Speaking of those shirts, here’s Ian Copestake … “Not being totally switched on early doors, I found myself cheering on Tomas Rodriguez after twenty seconds as he was free to shoot thinking for some reason that the whites were England. But he really should have buried that.”
18 min: Anderson sends a free kick into the Panama box. Kane meets it on the left-hand edge of the six-yard area. He volleys onto Harvey’s arm, and the ball deflects out for a corner. Kane claims a penalty, but come on and come off it, Harvey’s arm was by his body and the two players were right next to each other. Just a corner, which leads to nowt.
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16 min: Martinez takes the ball off Anderson and rolls Jose Luis Rodriguez into space down the middle. He’s got his namesake Tomas to his left, free, on the edge of the box, but gets the ball caught up between his feet and is eventually stripped of possession. Danger for England for a moment there.
15 min: Saka cuts in from the right, checks back, spins and shoots. Not a lot of power. Easy for Mosquera.
13 min: O’Reilly probes down the left but is forced to turn tail. Then on the other flank, Saka nearly strips Gutierrez of possession only for the defender to flop on the ball and purchase a cheap foul. Saka none too happy.
11 min: Barcenas wanders down the right and Konsa grabs a handful of his shirt. A free kick that leads to nothing. But the early signs are that Panama seem quite happy to get forward whenever they can, down both flanks.
10 min: Rashford is enjoying plenty of early joy down the left, and another determined run wins another corner. That leads to a weak Saka shot, which is easy for Mosquera to deal with.
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9 min: Gutierrez looks to be tearing into all sorts of space down the left, but the whistle goes, as he’s just failed to keep the ball in play, something he should have done. England’s defence a bit all over the show there.
8 min: Rashford cuts in from the left and pearls a low shot towards the bottom left. It’s heading in, and Mosquera does well to turn it around the post. Anderson comes across to do what the absent Rice normally does, and his delivery causes the keeper to flap, but Saka can only slice the dropping ball harmlessly wide right.
6 min: England have a throw-in overturned because Quansah takes more than the five seconds allowed by the new regulations over it. The new order.
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5 min: Rashford, from a deep position on the left, wedges down the channel for Bellingham, breaking into the box. Cordoba comes across to flick out for a corner before Bellingham can get a shot away. Nothing comes of the set piece.
4 min: Kane drops deep and tries to release Saka with a long diagonal to the right. Into the stand it goes. Thomas Tuchel, brow already furrowed, comes to the touchline to have his say. Meanwhile here’s Justin Kavanagh: “Never mind Foden/Palmer/Alexander-Arnold, David Wall: England will never win a World Cup without Harry Maguire saving their bacon with a last-minute header. (See the Ghana game.) I’m joking, of course, but I know a woman who’s not.”
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2 min: The rain is coming down in the English style. “Could this game have a dehydration break?” quips John Delaney, tinder-dry.
1 min: Panama immediately go long, Quansah doesn’t get much on his clearing header, and Tomas Rodriguez has the opportunity to shoot from 20 yards. He whacks it straight at Pickford, but with some force. What a start that could have been!
Panama get the ball rolling. But only after a moment of silence to remember and pay respect to those who lost their life in the Venezuela earthquakes. Beautifully observed.
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Here come the teams at the New York New Jersey Stadium, the home of the Jets and the Giants. The rain is coming down quite heavily, but there’s a fine atmosphere nonetheless. We’ll be off once anthems have been sung - Panama’s first, and all together with the chorus: ♫ ♬ At last we reached victory / In the joyous field of the union / With ardent fires of glory / A new nation shines bright! ♬ ♪♫ – and coins tossed. Soon!
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While we wait for the big kick-off, some more news from our man in New Jersey, Jacob Steinberg … and it’s got absolutely nothing to do with this game. See, a reporter’s work is never done. Always with a finger on the pulse, always spinning plates.
Did you know the transfer window’s open? Easy to forget when there’s a World Cup on. Anyway Como are trying to sign an England player – Trevoh Chalobah of Chelsea, who are holding out for £30m plus £5m in add-ons for the defender. Chelsea are also interested in signing Granit Xhaka - a key player for Xabi Alonso’s title-winning Bayer Leverkusen – but it’s hard to see Sunderland agreeing to sell the Switzerland midfielder.
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To the dressing rooms! Panama’s first-choice kit is red, England’s is white, so of course both teams are playing in their second-choice colours of, respectively, white and red. No photo on the wires of the Panama pennant, and the England one is excruciatingly dull (see Pennant Watches passim), so let’s shelve that feature. What else to say? Erm … the branded towels look quite nice? You’d shove one in your kitbag on the way out. Hey, tell you what, though: those chairs don’t look particularly ergonomically sound for elite sports stars to slump on. Also their portable and easy-to-swing-at-head-height nature is surely asking for trouble should there be a need to deconstruct the performance after a shock loss. But no need to catastrophise like this. I’ve been watching Scotland too much. Hmm. I miss Pennant Watch.
Thomas Tuchel talks to ITV. “We feel very well prepared … strong team … ready to go … prove a point … do the next step and win the match … I am always excited about my team because we have a strong squad … very offensive … the target is to speed up the game … it is very difficult if you always play against ten men defending … devotion … commitment … we have some things to improve but we are ready for it … it is units on the side … we attack with three or four players … it is not just about Marcus [Rashford] or Anthony [Gordon] … Declan [Rice] got a knock … he is ready to play and I would like to manage his minutes … and he has a yellow card … Jude [Bellingham] goes in the 8 position and Morgan [Rogers] in 10.”
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Pre-match postbag. “How early in the game (assuming it is still goalless) do you think that you’ll receive an email bemoaning the lack of Foden/ Palmer/Alexander-Arnold in the squad? I give it 20 minutes” – David Wall
“A heads up from a veteran Concacaf viewer. In addition to Panama deploying a low block the England team can expect a steady diet of stud massages on their feet, ankles and shins” – Mary Waltz
“As the England starting XI clearly shows, the Three Lions are ready to face truth or Konsa Quansahs today” – Peter Oh
Panama have made three changes to their starting XI after the 1-0 defeat to Croatia. Fidel Escobar and Jorge Gutiérrez replace Jiovany Ramos and César Blackman at the back, while up front José Fajardo makes way for Tomás Rodríguez. Panama will hope to, at some point, send on Adalberto Carrasquilla, their beating heart and playmaker, who has yet to play at this World Cup.
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As expected, England have made five changes to the side that started the goalless draw with Ghana earlier in the week. Reece James is hamstrung, so in comes Jarell Quansah at right-back. Nico O’Reilly reclaims the left-back spot from Djed Spence. Declan Rice is rested, to save his back; he’s replaced by Morgan Rogers in a more attack-minded midfield. And up front, Noni Madueke and Anthony Gordon are replaced by Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford, who livened things up late on against Ghana.
The teams
Panama: Mosquera, Murillo, Escobar, Cordoba, Andrade, Gutierrez, Martinez, Barcenas, Harvey, Jose Luis Rodriguez, Tomas Rodriguez.
Subs: Mejia, Samudio, Blackman, Farina, Carrasquilla, Diaz, Ramos, Davis, Fajardo, Waterman, Quintero, Godoy, Yanis, Londono, Miller.
England: Pickford, Quansah, Konsa, Guehi, O’Reilly, Bellingham, Anderson, Saka, Rogers, Rashford, Kane.
Subs: Rice, Stones, Dean Henderson, Trafford, Chalobah, Jordan Henderson, Burn, Mainoo, Gordon, Watkins, Madueke, Eze, Toney, Spence.
Referee: Abdulrahman Al Jassim (Qatar).
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England have taken the weather with them. As you can ascertain from the photo, it’s been tipping down for hours in East Rutherford, New Jersey. A home from home, then! (If we factor out the current heatwave sweeping the UK, that is, but let’s not pull at threads, you get the gist.) Happily there’s no expectation of electrical activity or anything else that would cause Fifa to get their protocols on. The only stoppages tonight, god willing, will be those ever-popular Hydration Breaks. Small mercies.
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It’d also be remiss of me not to mention the plight of Scotland.
Sigh.
They’re still not technically out of it, although they need Groups J, K and L to play nice if they’re to survive. The chances of that happening currently stand at a whopping 0.07%, but that last point-zero-seven chunk will be ruthlessly shaved off should Ghana fail to beat Croatia by at least three goals in tonight’s other Group L match. No point concerning ourselves with the other necessary criteria for survival just yet, then.
“Too right it’s on, Scott,” comes the brave response to all that from Simon McMahon. “I’ve got my Ghana, Uzbekistan, DR Congo, Algeria and Austria fifth-and-fifth scarf on already. Come on Scotland! It’s coming home, baby!”
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As for England … well, small sample, but the ups have been more pronounced than the downs, to be fair. A win and a draw, enough to guarantee qualification for the knockouts after Spain’s victory over Uruguay last night. The first, albeit lowest, hurdle already cleared without too much undue fuss.
Here’s how Panama have done so far. If you’re going to lose both matches and not erode confidence, two gutsy displays against fancied opposition is the only way to do it.
That low block, then. It’s proving quite the puzzle. But don’t worry! Some of the top managerial minds in the world – Thomas Tuchel and Emma Hayes, to be precise – are on it.
England’s opposition tonight. Bone up on the team that started this tournament as the 33rd best in the world with our team and player guides. Start with their star man Michael Amir Murillo and click on through …
Rashford, Saka, Rogers and Quansah expected to start
… and there’s some early team news from our man on the spot. Over to you, Jacob Steinberg …
Hello from New Jersey. Word is filtering through that Marcus Rashford is to replace Anthony Gordon on the left when England face Panama later. Jarell Quansah is also expected to make his World Cup debut, replacing the injured Reece James at right-back. Bukayo Saka is in line to replace Noni Madueke and in an attacking move it seems Morgan Rogers will come in for the rested Declan Rice and link with Jude Bellingham as Tuchel tries to find a way to break down Panama’s low block.
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Preamble
England recorded their biggest-ever World Cup win against Panama at the 2018 tournament. A 6-2 rout sent Gareth Southgate’s side on their journey to a fourth-place finish; Harry Kane’s hat-trick went a long way to securing his Golden Boot. And so here we are again … except last time, Panama were ranked 55th in the world, but now they’re ranked 42nd, and that after falling eight places in the wake of their 1-0 defeat to Croatia. Panama also gave Ghana a good game in their Group L opener, so while most observers expect England to do the business tonight, the current iteration of the Red Tide – runners-up to Mexico at both the previous Concacaf Gold Cup and Nations League – are no pushover. England will hope to bounce back from their struggles against Queirozball earlier in the week; should they do so, they’ll deserve the plaudits that will come their way, and hope it’ll be a good omen for another deep run. Kick-off is at 10pm BST, 5pm EDT, 7am AEST. It’s on!
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | England | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 2 | Ghana | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 3 | Croatia | 2 | -1 | 3 |
| 4 | Panama | 2 | -2 | 0 |
