Football Daily - World Cup: England beat Panama – 5 Live Reaction
Episode Date: June 28, 2026Relive the atmosphere and instant reaction from 5 Live at full-time as England beat Panama at New York New Jersey Stadium to finish top of Group L at the FIFA World Cup. Mark Chapman is joined by Alan... Shearer, Matthew Upson, Paul Robinson and correspondent John Murray. Also hear from Jude Bellingham, Thomas Tuchel, Marcus Rashford, Ezri Konsa and Harry Kane.INTERVIEWS 09:55 Jude Bellingham, 15:50 Thomas Tuchel, 21:15 Marcus Rashford, 25:35 Ezri Konsa, 31:00 Harry Kane.5 Live / BBC Sounds commentaries: Sun 2000 South Africa v Canada in Last 32, Mon 1800 Brazil v Japan in Last 32, Mon 2130 Germany v Paraguay in Last 32, Tue 0200 Netherlands v Morocco in Last 32, Tue 1800 Ivory Coast v Norway in Last 32, Tue 2200 France v Sweden in Last 32.
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At the People World Cup 2026, the Football Daily Podcasts with Mark Chapman.
And there is the final whistle here in New Jersey on this rainy day. And a couple of
England pairs put their fists into the air there are not wild celebrations here they
are doing what they set out to do to win this group they've got sight set further on in
this tournament but the job is done this match is won and they've topped the group
two-nill against Panama Alan Shearer well the first aim is to win the game secondly
can you win the game and put in a really good performance probably not no there's
plenty to work on, but they've won the game.
They've had to rely on the brilliance of Bellingham and Kane and Anderson,
but that's fine.
So many other teams rely on their big hitters,
so England can do that.
One or two wobbles defensively,
but all and all, the belief in the conference
that this should give them going forward.
It's been a good afternoon.
Yep, Jude Bellingham with his eighth goal for England,
his second at this World Cup,
and then setting up the goal five minutes later
for Harry Kane to head in what was.
his record 11th goal for England edging ahead of Gary Lineca at the top of that particular list.
So Panama nil, England too it is, and England will be heading to the round of 32 in Atlanta.
That's their next date on Weddon State.
So 2-0 to England and here's Mark Chapman with us in the stadium.
I think you could already guess, can you John, what they're going to say to you when you go and interview them.
You know, the players will say, well, we've topped the group, and that's all that matters.
Thomas Tinkle will say, we've topped the group, and there are probably some things to work on.
And it's actually the same as it was under Gareth Southgate, and we heard him say that so much.
At a tournament, you've got to negotiate your way through the tournament, and that's what they've done to this point.
And, okay, they haven't lived up to that thrilling period that they played in the second half in these two matches.
but as Thomas Trickel, I'm sure will say,
completely different matches and completely different opponents.
Well, what will be interested in the knockout stages, Alan,
is who they come up against who choose to play like Croatia,
i.e. go toe-to-to-to-to with them,
or who they come up against in the knockout stages,
and decide to do what Panama or Gama did.
Well, if it is going to be D.R. Congo,
then I guess they'll play the same as,
gone to have and the same as they have today where it will be defensively and they will try and hit
England on the break and that's when you're more reliant on players producing that that piece of magic to get you out of a of a tricky spot
positives without doubt today cane getting his goal Bellingham getting his goal and the assist I thought
Elliot Anderson in midfield was superb I thought gay at times uses pace to great effect when
England were in one or two spots of bother.
And that would be the thing to work on because the further they go,
the better opposition in particular in forward positions.
And if you give the chances one or two that they have given today,
then you will be punished.
But we are looking tough for perfection, aren't we?
As we said, the aim was to win the group.
The aim today was to win the game and then you can have one or two little pick bits
and see what can be improved.
And that is no doubt with what the manager
you will see.
Scotland are going home.
They will be leaving Charlotte,
where they are the England players
at the moment currently standing in front of their fans
as Wonderwall rings out here
and the fans are singing that back to their players
as they stand there, just looking at the fans
up in the stands here at the MetLife Stadium.
Matthew Upsom with us as well.
Your overall thoughts at the end of that?
Yeah, I mean, pretty similar to the guy.
really in the sense that there were moments in the game where it looked a little bit stale.
We looked a little bit shaky on the break certainly.
I thought we had more problems to deal with than obviously in the Garner game and it stretched us a little bit more.
But we have one or two players that can produce something.
Drew Bellingham was outstanding, I thought, in terms of how he approached the game.
I think sometimes he gets a little bit kind of too much in terms of wanting it so badly.
and the frustration creeps out
and I saw it in the first half a little bit
and then the second
just started to be more measured
some of the timing of his runs
was excellent and the goal
and the assist for Harry came
was just brilliant
so you rely on those moments a little bit
but doesn't every team
sooner or later you rely on your star play
or your creative players to produce something
and England did that in the end
after having a big amount of the game
and a lot of control of the ball
Wayne Rooney said after the opening goal Alan
he said if you cross the ball you cause problems
everything from England have been too much in the middle
they have been too narrow
the issue going forward is how they will break teams down
if they don't get the ball out wide and put crosses it
well they had the ball out wide in the first half
I said it but they're cut in didn't they
both soccer on the right hand side
had too many times and cut cut in
to use the left hand left foot I should say and whip it in
Rashford on the left hand side, cutting inside for that right foot.
And that makes it slightly easier for defenders to clear.
Yet you saw balls, I think, particularly with Bellingham,
in the way he twisted and turned and then clip that ball to the far post.
I think England do look more dangerous when they go on the outside.
As I said, it's a lot more difficult for defenders and easier for forwards
because you can make your run once you know that's coming in.
It's harder to get on a in-swinger from a right foot on the left.
versus on the right than it is going on the outside and attacking the ball if someone's
crossing with the left from the left or from the right from the right and those
outside options are then more complicated by the fact he could have lost another
right back this afternoon yeah I mean we're yet to see whether he will regret
those decisions he all of a sudden he loses Libremento he loses Rees James he
loses Quonsor who he then brings into place
right back and he's asked to bring Jed Spence on he has still got options
he can play Spence he can play concert in that right back position and bring
John Stone's into centre half but my concern would be for John if he hasn't played
the last two games is he carrying an injury too but those are all questions for
tomorrow tonight they've won the group they've won the game and hopefully
they'll take a bit of belief in confidence from that going forward I know it's a
question for tomorrow but can I ask it to Matt as well well yeah
because you're a nice guy will allow you though oh thank you thank you very much
because they are the they are the options that are there that Alan has pointed out
and maybe they can play this clip out again tomorrow and then it then it fills a hole for
them it fills a hole for them there but you could have you could have concert
right but you could bring stones in you never know bearing in mind right at the
star we talked about how he maybe would want Jed Spence to do a certain job on a
certain winning depending on who they were up against he still may want Jed Spence as
left back at times.
Yeah.
Are you confused, chap?
It's all a little bit
kind of players in different places
and it's not ideal.
There's no escaping it from my view.
In that situation,
with a back four,
certainly centre back part pairing
and your fullback.
It's changed every game.
I'm not sure you can keep going
in this fashion.
He's going to have to now
because he's plugging holes.
And like you say,
It's been unfortunate, a bit of bad luck here and there
and those decisions that we're going to see how they play out.
But it's not ideal.
And I think as you go deeper into the tournament,
the uncertainty that we feel,
and it is something there when we're watching these games,
even though we're doing well
and we're churning through the stages of the tournament,
there's something there that is a little bit of uncertainty
and the change doesn't help.
Sorry, Mike.
He's actually searching, isn't he?
You feel as if...
Yeah.
I feel as if he's searching for the...
the combinations on the right side and the left side.
He's tried Spence and Gordon.
That didn't really work.
He's tried Maddewiki on the right-hand side,
and that didn't really work,
and he's put Sacker in again today on the right,
and yeah, at times they looked,
but it wasn't sparkling.
He's put Rashford in one or two times
where he looked dangerous,
but you think not enough.
I mean, ultimately it came from the piece of brilliance
from Bellingham with the cross for Cain,
then all of a sudden England could relax in the game
and the game was won.
So he is searching for combinations
in both fullbacks and in wide areas
to go forward that are going to work.
Do you not think that that's a lot of players, Alan,
to be searching for mid-tournament?
Yeah, absolutely, yeah.
You've seen it before.
It's not ideal, is it?
No, I mean, we thought Saka maybe would came in
for the last game, but he's in for the third game.
Hopefully he'll get better,
because there's no doubt he's an outstanding player.
But he's having to work with someone different again in Quonsa.
And then you're switching it around
and you're switching four or five around in different positions,
which, as you see, isn't ideal.
The man he's set up England's first.
He scored the first to set up the second.
Here's Jude Bellingham.
How do you sum it up, group one, job done today in terms of the win?
Yeah, first job achieved, you know, that we came here.
to do it in sections.
We got through the pre-camp games really well
and now we achieved our first objective
which was to get through the group
and top it as well.
What was set at halftime?
You're doing well, keep going.
A little bit more.
Another gear.
Nothing's crazy.
We knew what level we were at.
We know what level we want to achieve
and we did it in the second off.
The manager says that you'll see
a better England in the knockout stage.
We'll see hopefully, hopefully.
I think every day we've got to try and improve
every game we've got to improve
and yeah
it's up to us to do that.
What pleased you most today
that the goal or the assist?
The assist.
The assist.
I think it was just a good culmination
of play and yeah
to give it to Harry again
who just continues to raise his level
is incredible.
Well you know that assist also means history
Harry Kane now England's record
goal scorer at World Cups.
It's everything he deserves
you know what I mean.
You see the effort that he puts in
as a captain, you see how he leads us
his quality speaks for itself is the best.
I think they're playing your song.
I think so, I'm better go.
Well done.
Thank you.
Jude Ballingham scored the first,
set up the second for Harry Kane.
There's a former England number nine.
Do you want to give an appreciation of Harry Kane?
Now he's England's record goal scorer in the World Cup.
Just incredible.
He's a staggering goal scorer.
The standards that he's set and the standards that he hits,
week in, week out.
Yeah, he's just incredible and deserves everything.
on those records
he could break for the next few years
he isn't going anywhere is he
no he's not going anywhere
I mean he's coming into this tournament
on the back of 61 goals for his club
which is just staggering
when I when I first started
in the late 80s early 90s
he got 20 a season that was judged as impressive
so these guys now and Harry's one of them
are taking goals score onto different levels
so he's an incredible professional and deserves it all
If you were playing now, would you get a 60 a season?
No, I wouldn't. I'd get 70.
Do you know what?
Sometimes I just set them up for you, don't I?
And then you knock them in.
Bellingham and Keating. There you go, you see.
Thank you, Alan. See you soon.
Alan Shearer with us on 5 Live.
Paul Robinson.
Back with us, former England goalkeeper.
What are your thoughts at the end of it all?
It's a job done.
I mean, I'm sure that's what you've said.
Obviously, I've not been here.
I've been away doing the television,
but actually it wasn't pretty,
and at times it looked like it could end up
in a long evening for England,
but they got the breakthrough,
and then the shackles were off.
They were relaxed.
They were playing with a lot of pressure,
and they were playing against the side,
who obviously saw what Garner did to England
and frustrated England,
and the longer the game went,
the more you worried for England,
but actually they got the first goal
ensued by the second,
and at that point, that was it,
done it, allowed the managers to make the changes.
I don't think we've learned anything from that today.
I don't think it was a huge change
from the Garner game.
the formation changed, but it wasn't a game where you watched it and you thought,
okay, England are going to go all the way through the tournament here.
They're obviously work in progress, the building.
He used his full squad again, but actually the injuries that they've picked up,
it's probably going to be the most talking point and the most worrying thing for Thomas Tuchel.
Did you, in the first half, did you worry at all about how open they looked at times
went out of possession?
Or did you just think, well, that was the way that this team was set up
and they won't look that open once they're going to?
to get to their knockouts.
But why won't they?
I mean, when they play a better team, we saw Panama today.
Well, if they're playing in a more defensive role.
Yeah, obviously, if they've got two holding defensive midfielders.
With the one against the team like Panama with no disrespect, they were exposed.
That offside decision at the very end was a lot close,
and I think we all initially thought it was.
They had one or two opportunities.
Diaz that came off the bench.
He had two chances, put one wide, one over the bar,
the offside decision.
And you think if that's an England team,
playing against the France or a Spain, for example,
the defensive frailties may be exposed,
but as you quite rightly say,
they were playing a much more pragmatic role
and be more defensively minded than they were today.
They knew today that they had to take the initiative.
They had to be the ones on the front foot,
taking the game to Panama,
and that's why at times they will have been exposed.
Matt, I mean, do you think those flaws that we saw then
will be shored up for, well,
it's looking like either Senegal or Diorcongo.
You would like to hope that it's going to look better and better
and start to look a bit more solid,
but there's going to be changes again.
You would feel it depends on how many times can the back four play together
because that for me is the only way you get better.
And the understanding of fallbacks, tucking in, narrowing off,
who's going to go forwards, when we're going to drop in,
and the communication between the midfielders as well in all of that picture.
building that into the next stage of the tournament for me is so crucial.
I look at all the other teams and those positions,
very few are the best teams change those roles at all.
There might be one or two in this third game or to rest someone or whatever,
but we've made wholesale changes because it feels like he's looking at what is my best option.
We need to get to that quickly and let it play and keep it going
because as the standard goes up, it's going to get harder and harder.
I felt it was tough today because the team were quite unusual, weren't they?
The way they played sat off and then all of a sudden when they went forward,
it was bursting forward.
So you're always going to have situations where you're going to have a bit of a race
between a centre back and a forward or a fullback tucking in to win that battle.
We got there most of the time.
Tight offside, yes, on the goal and it could have gone the other way.
But on the whole we cope with it, it just wasn't a good feeling, was it?
And it felt a little bit exposed.
Let's hear from Thomas Tuchel then. He's with John Murray.
Thomas first objective achieved.
What was your message when you spoke to the players at the...
I suppose you've completed the first phase of the tournament?
Yes, achieved.
We got all our goals, seven points ahead of the group.
I know we can all, me included, get carried away with our expectations towards ourselves
and how we want to achieve all our goals.
but we're not alone on the football page.
And we have to just accept and respect the quality on the other side.
We found a way to win.
We have another deserved win.
It is a moment this evening and tonight to enjoy this moment.
The next game comes quick and fast, the next preparation.
And the next expectation from us to win the next knockout round comes by itself.
So now is a moment to enjoy it.
We want to come back here in three weeks and need to get better and need to find another gear and we will.
What were the things that you like today that were more like what you were after?
Yeah, a lot of things, I have to say a lot of things.
I think it's more maybe a coach's game to watch from the sideline than a game to enjoy on TV.
I don't know, but I think from the sideline you see the energy that is needed to break a team down like that.
the energy that the team brought, invested in runs and invested in the duels to control the counter-attacks, which was difficult enough.
So I'm totally happy with that.
We had a bit too many ball losses in the first half where we're not careful enough.
We need to take care of that because it just leaves us exposed.
So our management of these ball losses can be better even in the very end of the match when we try to score the third.
and the fourth one, we left our defenders alone with a lot of space.
So we can do better, but overall I think it needs a lot to win these matches in this environment.
And the positive is clearly there. You saw it in the end, connection with the fans, everyone is happy.
Is there anything else eating away at you, niggling away at you, another injury right back?
Yeah, hopefully, yeah, maybe another, for sure, another injury. Let's see how long this takes.
It's very painful at the moment.
twisted his ankle. Yeah, that would be a bit annoying, I have to say, like the third
right defender, but we will find solution. We still have Chad and Esri Konza who can play there.
And take it day by day. I'm at the moment positive because we still have stuff to improve
and we will, but I still feel on the sideline that things are clicking and we are understanding
our rhythm a bit better and Puyahio is back on the pitch.
pitch from the start and a lot of players have now minutes.
So I think we're in a place to have the right to stay positive and believe in ourselves.
Satisfied but not overjoyed.
Is that how you would describe that, Paul Robinson?
Grumpy.
He wasn't happy.
I think he came across how you would expect him to come across.
But there was times in that game where you look at the TV monitors that we've got in front of him and the shot
cuts down to the bench and you see Thomas Tuchin, you see his reaction in discussion with his
coaches, with his assistant manager. And there was times in that game where he was clearly
frustrated, particularly the disallowed goal for Panama, the offside, the defending at times frustrated
him. You could see him watching down on the touchline how animated he is. He doesn't hide disappointment
very well, Thomas Tuchel. I don't think he did in that interview in all honesty. And I think when you
listen to him, you can tell that he's frustrated. It's still working progress. There's players there that
he's lost through injury and he knows that.
And he knows all what Alan and Matt were talking about,
the combinations down the right, the combinations down the left.
He's not quite got to where he wants to get to
and he's losing players quicker than he can find answers.
Yeah, I think it's interesting looking back
and how we want England to be more attacking.
But sometimes to be more attacking doesn't mean you've got more attacking players on the field.
And I think this was a game that kind of highlighted that a little bit
in the sense of crowding the space and also the,
the defensive security that you have with the two,
while we are in control of the game,
there's those key moments where you look a little bit loose,
well, there's not enough pressure on the ball,
so then all of a sudden the break happens.
So I think it's interesting to know which way you go on that,
and he had to choose away,
and he went with the more attack in which we all liked
and agreed before the game,
and it'd been interesting to see had it gone the other way,
how England would have played,
and whether the result would have been different,
and we would have looked more secure
and had a more kind of assured performance,
which we're all searching for.
We're all searching for this performance
that gives us loads of confidence going into the knockout phase.
But I don't think we're obviously clearly not going to get that.
So you've got to put it together, do the best you can,
like Thomas Tuchel's saying.
I think there's a lot to look at for him.
And it's going to be interesting to see.
You know, there's going to be a lot of talk around his team selection
into every game, isn't there?
And that's what happens.
You then kind of have that scrutiny as to,
Okay, how are you going to tweak for this game?
I'm just going to jump in, Matt.
I'm going to go down to the tunnel area
because Marcus Rashford is live with John Murray.
Yes, sir.
Thank you, Mark.
Marcus Rashford in front of us.
Job done, Marcus.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, no, it's just about recovery and try to go again.
So, yeah, you know, we expect to be in this position.
We work all season together to be here.
So, yeah, we're happy that we managed to get the job done.
And this little chapter's done now and we can move on.
and keep improving because I think we're doing well
but we've got so much to improve on
and so much that we're capable of doing.
So for me it's the perfect position to be in as a team
and we're ready to kick on and do more.
And after the real highs of the way
that you played in that first match,
this has turned out to be a really tough group, hasn't it?
It was always going to be a tough group.
You know, there's really physical teams
in the last two games that we've played
and in Croatia, you can't give them a minute on the ball
because the quality of the passing is just so high.
So different games, but equally as tough.
But it doesn't matter, we have to try and do whatever the game requires
to try to win.
And, yeah, we managed to do that today.
Do you think there's much more to come?
Yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure.
I don't think anyone's really playing at the peak level
that we've seen and played throughout the season.
but this is a good problem to have
because we've got as individuals
as a team we've got strides to take
and you never want your best
performances to be in the group stage
anyway you want to build into the tournament
grow and now we want to really
kick on and you know
go full throttle against teams and just
try and punish him at every opportunity
you know you've been involved in them it's a different ball game
from this point on isn't it but
it seems most likely
DR Congo or Senegal in the round of
32 could be a
kind of challenge to what the last games have been.
Yeah, for sure.
Listen, there's no easy games in World Cups, the occasion, so big.
I just don't think there's any easy games.
And we've had tournaments before where we've beat teams 4-0, 5-0, 6-0.
But it's not easy.
You know, we have to do what we're good at really well to get these goals.
So I think in the second half, it was better.
In the end, we're disappointed to only score two goals.
But this is football.
So, yeah, it took good, you know, patience and mentality.
to not get too frustrated after half time.
We came out and tried to do the same things
and yeah, we managed to get the goals.
Just finally.
Obviously, back in the starting line up,
starting out at the World Cup,
that's what you wanted to be.
How are you liking your own form?
How are you feeling?
You know, it's difficult to be at peak
when you're not playing so much.
And yeah, the last couple of months for me
I've not been playing that much football.
So it's good.
I enjoy the moments when I'm on the pitch.
But like everyone else,
I just want to try to do the best I can do on the pitch
and help the team to win.
Well done, Marcus. Thanks very much. Thank you.
What would you say, man?
He carried a threat in Marcus Russia,
but maybe the end product wasn't quite there.
I think it was a bit hit and miss, wouldn't it?
We saw some good end product,
and then we saw some not so good,
a couple of loose touches, passes.
And I think he alluded to it there.
He's probably not in his peak form.
But as we've seen in a Barcelona shirt,
still capable of producing absolute wow moments.
And I thought he brought some energy.
Inside, when he comes in the pitch,
he can just do something really special.
Five lights forth.
My favourite World Cup moment?
It's the first World Cup I properly remember watching.
Argentina 78.
The ticker tape, Mario Kempes,
Ari Hahn's scoring goals from miles out,
and always one of my favorite World Cup moments.
Archie Gemmell's great.
for Scotland against the Dutch.
What makes the World Cup such a special tournament
is the atmosphere, the colour,
it is a meeting of the nations
and of people who love football.
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Okay, we'll get the view from the other end of the pitch for England now.
Here's Esri Conzer again with John.
Yes, here he is, Esri Conzer.
Another tough match, Esri.
You knew it was going to be?
Yeah, of course.
They're all tough matches.
Every team in this tournament deserve to be here.
They're all good teams.
You know, we know not every game's going to be as easy as we want it to be.
But look, today the main thing for us was to get.
win which we did top the group and for me to keep another clean sheet was was another positive
was there a bit of anxiety in in the performance when the when that opening goal didn't come
I know that you've all achieved what you've achieved but you are human no of course I don't think
there was any anxiety we all kept our call the youth we kept doing what we was going to do that
we was going to create chances no matter what I think everyone knows the qualities that we have in
this team are attacking threats
you know if you give them a yard or you give them time to do what they're going to do
we're going to create chances and score goals and that's what we did today and yeah really pleased
it helps when you've got people like jude bellingham and harry kane in the team doesn't it
oh yeah yeah everyone knows their qualities top top players they bring a lot a lot for us
leaders on the pitch and yeah really pleased for both for them and long may that continue
yeah and how are you enjoying it you know being a being a starting
in England's World Cup team.
Yeah, it's surreal.
Dream come true for me.
It's a tournament I've always wanted to play
since I was a kid
and to play three games in a row,
90 minutes.
Yeah, I just want to keep going,
keep up my standards and keep improving.
But as the manager says,
it's a new tournament starts now.
Exactly.
We're going to Wednesday now,
full of confidence, positive.
I'm not sure who we're going to play,
but I know we'll be ready.
Thanks, Esri.
Well done today.
Esri Konzer, Mark.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, John.
We'll keep getting reaction from the tunnel.
The clean sheet is a positive, isn't it?
Yeah, I think so.
I think that's one thing that he will look at,
but it was a dicey clean sheet at times, if you like.
You look at the times that England were picked apart.
Obviously, we keep going back to the offside goal
that was disallowed.
It was a wonderful finish.
But there were one or two occasions where a Panama side
that you would not expect to get him behind the England defence
as easy as they did.
but we say that
but that's the way that England
were playing
and they were pushing forward
they left the gaps there
for Panama to expose
defensively I've said
from the start of the tournament
England have looked susceptible
he's not decided on his fullbacks
his central defensive partnership
is going to change
I think it's John Stones
plus one other
if he's fit and that's who
he wants to play
I think six months ago
he all thought it was going to be
Mark Gayee plus A another
but those defensive worries
and the selection problems
that he's got
may be in a kill
for England
if I asked you to name
the starting 11
for the last 32
Do you think the only ones that you could guarantee
would be Pickford, Anderson,
Rice, Bellingham and Kane?
Yeah, absolutely.
I think that's the spine.
Can we make that question for tomorrow, Chappas?
What, are you tired?
Are you going to bed?
No, it's just, honestly, at this moment in time,
I don't really know.
There are certain players that you,
know a playing at the moment, like you just mentioned,
Kane, Bellingham, Rice, Anderson,
Pickford, you then look at,
for me, for me, Geerhe, I think, has to play.
And then it's about fitness and things we might know or might not know.
John Stone's quite right, not too sure is Rich James going to get fit.
I think there's so many questions.
The high wide areas, there's so much to choose from with Saka and Rashford and Gordon.
So, yeah, Madawecki coming.
on again, it is going to have to select.
There's a lot of things to look at and a lot of fine detail.
Thomas Tuchel mentioned his interview, a lot of details.
If you're going game to game trying to pick the,
as opposed to having your one thing and set up that this is who we are,
this is what we do, this is how we're going to win it.
It's very, it's moving parts all the time.
And I think it's hard to get those decisions right for every game as well.
Did you both find them from your tournament experiences?
and several of the interviews have sort of alluded to this,
that it does become a different tournament now,
that you do split it into two.
You do do the group stages and that's one thing, and then things change.
It's a case of getting through.
No matter how you do it, there's no pictures on a league table.
It's about qualifying through the group,
but the importance of taking confidence and growing into a tournament
is what we all talk about.
I would have preferred to see a Croatia-like performance today
at the last game of the group
and go into the knockout stages
with that type of confidence
rather than starting the tournament
after that game
everyone thinking we're going to win the whole thing
and then having two really clunky performances
to top the group.
Yeah, myself as well.
You want to build into it
and I think that Robo is right in the sense
you would prefer to start a bit slower
and then keep building and building.
That would be your ideal.
Obviously we've done it in reverse
in this group phase but we're now in the knockout
and Thomas Tuchel has got to pick the team
to get the job done.
from the England captain who is on the score sheet this afternoon.
Harry Kane with Kelly Summers.
Well Harry, congratulations.
Job done through as group winners.
Your thoughts on the performance?
Yeah, solid performance.
I'd say 75% really good.
There's still 25% we can improve on for sure.
But all in all, another good win.
A clean sheet.
Playing against a tricky side.
I had some dangerous players and they like to play and round the corners.
First half especially, I felt like the ball just kept bouncing to them in certain situations.
so we found it harder to get a rhythm
and maybe just lacked a little bit of quality
in the final third. Second half we was better.
We was more dominant. We controlled their kind of transitions better
which allowed us to put pressure
and I felt like the goal was coming
and obviously to get two pretty quick there was a good feeling
and then yeah, overall just a solid room.
You did get your goal but before that were you getting a little bit frustrated?
Yeah, it's one of them. I felt like I got into good positions throughout the whole game
but the ball just weren't falling for me.
They defended well, they defended the box well,
similar to the last game.
I was making movements
and it just kind of kept avoiding me.
I had a good chance before where Jude slimmed me in
and the keeper made a good save.
So, yeah, I think as a striker,
you're just itching to get chances
and obviously Jude had a lovely bit of play there
on the left side and hung up,
ball up perfectly for me to attack
and it was nice to see it going.
And there was a little celebration
between the two of you?
Yeah, I was kind of running towards him
as I was celebrating, so we both done my celebration.
So, yeah, hopefully we can copy each other
celebrations throughout this tournament.
He started deeper today, but he actually had the joint most chances he's had in an
England shirt.
Just what's that relationship like between the two of you and the importance he has now for your game?
Yeah, 100%.
I think today you saw him, like you said, in a deeper role.
And I think Jude, it's a player who's very versatile.
Today he was more running from deep, runs in not just with the ball, but also without the
ball, stretching the opponents.
And we kind of worked off each other that way.
Morgan was more the one in the 10 pocket, kind of causing problems for them.
And ultimately, we was trying to get it wide.
it crosses in the box.
But, yeah, Drew, you see him the way he works defensively,
with the tackles he puts in, the shift he puts in.
I think that's where he thrives the best when he's just kind of free to really attack the game.
You've seen, I feel like he's had a bit between his teeth throughout the whole campaign
since we've met up in Florida.
He's really driven to perform at the highest level and so far he is.
And a word on you as well, because another record for you.
You're now England's outright top scorer at World Cup.
I know you're going to tell us it's all about the team.
but we've seen your importance to this team.
What does that record mean to you?
Yeah, it's a proud one for sure.
I spoke before.
The World Cup's the biggest competition we play as a professional footballer.
So, yeah, to get to 11 now is obviously a proud feeling.
As always, hard to take in.
I just want to enjoy this moment with the team
and enjoy being top of the table.
It's never take these moments for granted.
But for me personally, yeah, another good milestone to hit
and hopefully not the last one at this tournament.
So Harry Kay, now England's record goal scorer,
World Cup to go through to go with all the other records that he has got the thing with him as well
from that first performance Matt and again it's about how how these performances are all very
different at the moment you know that that dropping deep in the first game which was so effective
against the way Croatia played has not happened in the next two no and I saw him drop deep
right the start of the game and the center back cordova who actually played really really
really well, went all the way with him, really tight.
They were that kind of team, weren't they?
Quite tight, you know, bouncing on those loose balls, on the move all the time, really
physical, loads of running.
So it was a tricky game.
I think all the players have alluded to that and how it felt on the pitch.
But he's certainly at his best when he has wide players that he can hit with a swivel pass.
When he's in that mode and when that space is there and the understanding's there from
wide players. There's no one better than Harry Kane in terms of assists and deep passing.
You're right. It's harder when you play the teams that will have three at the back or will sit
bodies in there. It's just harder to find that space. And I think that that has been the case.
When his man marked like he almost was today by Cordova, who went he actually into that
number 10 role with him and even deeper. And at times this tournament, we've seen him receiving the
ball off Jordan Pickford. So it's clearly a plan that England have worked to. And it's a way to get
their wide players into attacking areas.
And the wide players understand when Harry Kane drops in,
they get forward and they get forward quick to much good effect in the Croatia game.
Madowecki was excellent at doing that.
And I think they favoured that side because of Kane's right foot,
obviously drops deep and then naturally he will emigrate towards that side.
But actually with the wide players doing that and Kane dropping in,
it's important for whether it's Morgan Rogers or Jude Bellingham,
they then go and fill the space that Harry Kane leaves.
And that's a game plan that England have used and they've used it well.
fees that you make
you don't decide to make it
it just comes out
I don't know what that's good either
but everyone
makes it the same time
makes you feel
I don't know how to say it
we know that feeling
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