In a 3-0 victory over Wales that also gave England first place in Group B and set up a matchup with Senegal in the round of 16, Marcus Rashford and Phil Foden made the most of their opportunities as starters to help England knock Wales out of the World Cup.
Wales did well to contain their opponents in the first half at Al Rayyan Stadium in Doha but never really threatened to spring the upset necessary to take them through to the next round. The Red Dragons needed a win and a positive outcome in the other group game to continue their first World Cup journey since 1958. Only a deflected long-range effort from Kieffer Moore forced Jordan Pickford to wor during their only shot in the first half, which came in stoppage time.
With only seven touches in the first 45 minutes, Gareth Bale was forced to leave the game with a hamstring injury at halftime, possibly in what would be his final big tournament participation for his nation.
Although the knockout stage is still ahead for England, Southgate will be heartened by his team’s depth, with Foden and Rashford serving as examples of the variety of attacking options at his disposal and Kyle Walker and Kalvin Phillips earning crucial playing time following injury returns.
In the other Group B game, Christian Pulisic scored the lone goal in the United States’ 1-0 victory over Iran to advance to the World Cup knockout rounds before the Chelsea winger was hurt and taken to the hospital.
The USMNT enjoyed the pressure of the qualification shootout, playing with great vigour and attacking purpose as the Chelsea attacker tucked home the game-winning goal in the 38th minute of the match at the Al Thumama Stadium in Al Thumama.
As the game went on, Gregg Berhalter’s men began to miss their influence, but despite having a lot of possession, Iran were unable to muster the quality necessary to score an equaliser that would have been sufficient to take them through.
