England & USA through To WC Knockout Stages

England and USA went through to the FIFA World Cup knockout stages after both beat Wales 3-0 and Iran 1-0 respectively in Group B on Tuesday night.

Marcus Rashford was the star of the show for England, scoring twice and Phil Foden scoring the other to beat the out of sorts Wales side at Ahmad Bin Al Stadium.

But all these goals came in the second half after a subdued first stanza.    

USA, on the other hand, beat Carlos Queiroz’s Iran with Christian Pulisic bundling home a Sergino Dest’ cross after 38 minutes at Al Thumama Stadium in Doha.

But it came at the cost as he hurt himself in the process as his momentum saw him crash to goalie Safar Beiranvand.

Timothy Weah thought he had doubled the lead for USA a moments later, running to the brilliant pass before toe-poking it in between the legs of Beiranvand but he was ruled offside by VAR review. That meant US finished second behind England in Group B on five points.

It was sweet revenge for the USA against Iran as they lost to them 2-1 in the 1998 World Cup but it meant nothing to either side as Germany and Yugoslavia progressed from the group.

The USA will now face the Netherlands, who finished top in Group A.

For England, whose game was poor in the first half, Rashford let it fly with a thunderbolt free kick to beat Danny Ward in the 50^th minute.

Phil Foden, who was fouled when Rashford scored from the free kick, quickly doubled the score for England, meeting Harry Kane’s cross to stroke the ball at the back post.

The goals were scored in 48 seconds apart. England coach Gareth Southgate quickly removed Kane, Declan Rice and Kyle Walker, replacing them with Kalvin Philips, Callum Wilson and Trent Alexander Arnold. He needed them to be fresh knowing the strength and the power of Senegalese side in the round of 16.   

Rashford completed his brace in the 68^th minute to ensure that it was done and dusted, turning inside out Connor Roberts. It was a completely better second half for England, but they were facing a poor Welsh side, who Gareth Bale -their talisman – and Aaron Ramsey were passengers.

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Rashford is now the joint top goal scorer in this World Cup on three goals alongside Cody Gakpo (Netherlands), Kylian Mbappe (France) and Enner Valencia (Ecuador).