The England national team reserved a seat for it in the Round of 16 of the World Cup Qatar 2022, by defeating its Welsh counterpart by three goals free of charge, on Tuesday, in the last round of Group Two competitions.
And the English showed their fangs with an offensive performance, through which coach Southgate wanted to settle things early, while Wales played in a defensive manner, despite their desperate need to win and nothing else to keep their hopes alive to continue the global journey.
The “Three Lions” team created many opportunities, most notably Marcus Rashford’s solo, Phil Foden’s shot, and defender John Stones’ header, but the Welsh net remained steadfast, and the first half ended with a white result.
With the start of the second half, Rashford succeeded in breaking the tie with a beautiful goal from a direct free kick, which he brilliantly put out of reach of Danny Ward in the 51st minute.
- Advertisement -
Less than two minutes later, the English added a second goal from a cross sent by Harry Kane, which Foden set out for her and followed it into the net, before Rashford returned and signed his second and third personal goal for his country in the 68th minute.
With this victory, the English team raised its tally to 7 points, with which it clinched the top spot in the group, and was accompanied by the United States team, which ranked second with 5 points, after defeating its Iranian opponent 1-0 in another match that took place at the same time.
The US national team scored its only goal at the 38th minute, after a ball raised by Weston McKinney, turned by Serginho Dest with a wide header to Christian Pulisic, who turned it into the Iranian goal.
England will face Senegal in the second round, while the United States will play the Netherlands next Saturday, December 3.
On the other hand, Iran bid farewell to the tournament by finishing third with three points, as is the case for Wales, which finished at the bottom of the standings with one point.