![\"England's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0024991e-614.jpg\"\/)
\nJude Bellingham celebrates after flicking home England’s opener<\/p>\n
Harry Kane became England’s all-time World Cup goalscorer as Thomas Tuchel\u2019s side overcame well-drilled Panama to progress to the knockout stage as group winners and set up a date with DR Congo.<\/p>\n
Having gone from the thrill-a-minute victory against Croatia to a dour draw with Ghana, the back-to-back European Championship finalists overcame a sluggish start to win Saturday\u2019s match at the New York New Jersey Stadium.<\/p>\n
England were already guaranteed of a place in the knockout phase following Friday\u2019s fixtures and wrapped up top spot in Group L with a 2-0 triumph that sets up a last-32 tie against a third-placed side on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
DR Congo will be the opponents in Atlanta after a day when Jude Bellingham\u2019s breakthrough was swiftly followed by a smart header from captain Kane.<\/p>\n
The 32-year-old scored a hat-trick when these sides met at this stage in 2018 and moved clear of Gary Lineker as England\u2019s highest scoring player at a World Cup by nodding home his 11th goal.<\/p>\n
Bigger tests are to follow and vast improvements are required if they are to return to the venue for the final on 19 July, but Tuchel\u2019s men have successfully cleared the first hurdle.<\/p>\n
The England boss warned his side would face a “complex” challenge against another low block and so it proved as Panama started with intent and a solid base.<\/p>\n
Tomas Rodriguez\u2019s hopeful effort from distance saw them match Ghana\u2019s number of shots on target from Boston within 10 seconds of kick-off and Thomas Christiansen\u2019s side held firm during a purposeful start.<\/p>\n
Marcus Rashford, one of five changes from Tuesday, saw an excellent low strike saved by Orlando Mosquera having confidently cut in from the left, with Panama\u2019s goalkeeper soon denying Bukayo Saka.<\/p>\n
\nJude Bellingham celebrates after flicking home England’s opener<\/p>\n
The Arsenal winger, making his first start of the summer after overcoming an Achilles issue, saw an effort blocked at the end of a lovely team move before boos greeted a needless hydration break in the rain.<\/p>\n
Tuchel attempted to lift his team but they made a sluggish return to action and Jordan Pickford was forced into a save after Jose Luis Rodriguez was able to get a snapshot away.<\/p>\n
Panama maintained a threat and defended their box well, with Rashford heading narrowly over before seeing a stoppage-time free-kick curl around the wall and just wide.<\/p>\n
England went into the break in second spot after Croatia took the lead against Ghana, with assistant Anthony Barry calling for “synchronicity” to match their talent.<\/p>\n
There was certainly a higher tempo, with Kane adjudged to have committed a foul as Panama saw the ball ricochet just over their own goal before Rashford struck the side-netting.<\/p>\n
Play was opening up and, after the concerning sight of Rodriguez bending off target, Kane had an effort denied by Mosquera.<\/p>\n
\n
There was concern as Jarell Quansah, playing at right-back after Reece James\u2019 hamstring injury compounded the withdrawal of Tino Livramento, limped off but the mood was lifted in the 62nd minute.<\/p>\n
Saka\u2019s final contribution before being replaced was sending over a corner that Bellingham managed to get a toe to under pressure, poking it home to break the deadlock.<\/p>\n
The relief was palpable and another goal swiftly followed.<\/p>\n
Bellingham showed great skill and timing as he clipped over a cross for Kane to head home a record-breaking goal in the 67th minute.<\/p>\n
England relaxed a little too much after that and Pickford bellowed at those in front of him as substitute Ismael Diaz proved a handful.<\/p>\n
Team-mates were wasteful in front of goal at the other end, with Rashford mishitting an attempt and Noni Madueke was denied before Jose Fajardo\u2019s goal on the break was ruled out for offside.<\/p>\n
Eberechi Eze saw an effort deflected wide before the final whistle sparked songs and celebrations.<\/p>\n
![\"FIFA](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/002475f4-614.jpg\"\/)
\nRT\u00c9 will show every game from the knock-out stage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Harry Kane became England’s all-time World Cup goalscorer as Thomas Tuchel\u2019s side overcame well-drilled Panama to progress to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":522157,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":["post-522156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=522156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522156\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/522157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}