Dhe duel of the singing brothers from the United Kingdom clearly went to the English in the stands, the game to those on the pitch. In the final game of Group B at the World Cup, the “Three Lions” won 3-0 against their small neighbors from Wales and qualified first in the table for the round of 16. There they meet Senegal on Sunday (8:00 p.m. CET in the FAZ live ticker for the World Cup) in the al-Bayt Stadium in al-Khor. “It’s a great feeling. I play football for moments like this,” said England goalscorer Marcus Rashford afterwards, overjoyed.
England coach Gareth Southgate didn’t like the offensive performance in the 0-0 draw against the USA. So he took Mason Mount, Bukayo Saka and Raheem Sterling from the starting XI and brought in Phil Foden, Jordan Henderson and Rashford. He had his first real chance in the tenth minute when captain Harry Kane gave him a playmaker-style pass through to the goal. But Rashford was denied by the left arm of the brilliantly reacting goalkeeper Danny Ward, who came in for Wayne Hennessey; he had seen the only red card of this World Cup against Iran.
Rashford scored the first goal of the game – much to the chagrin of Neco Williams. The right full-back turned his head on a long-range shot for his team and simply fell backwards from the force of the ball (24′). After a short treatment, we continued, but only for a good ten minutes. Then the visibly battered Williams was down again and had to be substituted due to the consequences of the accidental head hit.
Gareth Bale substituted at half-time
Because it didn’t work with shots, the English tried art before half-time. An attack with three heel touches seemed Brazilian, just like an overhead kick. The shots by Phil Foden – from a turn over the goal (38′) – and Rashford – with his shin next to the goal (39′) – fell more into the category of British blemishes. Wales did little better in injury time in the first half. Joe Allen shot the ball into the block of the jeering English fans (45+5).
After the break, the Welshmen surprised as they continued without their star Gareth Bale, who was replaced by Brennan Johnson. And the English surprised Wales: first Rashford circled a free kick from 18 meters to make it 1-0 in the goalkeeper’s corner (50′), shortly afterwards Kane passed the center without eye contact, where Foden made it 2-0 just 96 seconds after the 1-0 inserted (51st).
With that, the one-sided game was decided. The Welsh, who would only have had a chance of reaching the round of 16 if they won, but had not shown any concept for the offensive for a long time, then tried their luck again. But both Daniel James’ flick (55′) and Kieffer Moore’s shot, which England’s Harry Maguire deflected, didn’t find their way into the goal (56′).
On the other hand, how to do it better showed the player of the game. After a long ball, Rashford added an individual performance to the final score (68th). After that, England’s only concern was not to pick up another injury or suspension before the round of 16. When Aaron Ramsey went in hard on Jordan Henderson, his right foot twisted badly. But the Liverpool player was able to continue. This also applied to Foden, who unluckily slipped into an opponent. Rashford was substituted with convulsions.
Dortmund’s Jew Bellingham missed another goal when he was denied by goalkeeper Ward and Foden failed to hit his subsequent cross (77′). Defender John Stones also failed to get the ball into the net after a corner in added time. But that no longer mattered against weak Welsh, who were inferior throughout the season.
It seems clear to the English that it won’t be as easy as it was at the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium in ar-Rayyan from the start of the knockout stages. The English fans can continue to sing in Qatar for the next few days. The Welsh brothers, on the other hand, return to the island early and badly beaten after 64 years of waiting to qualify for the World Cup.
