Marcus Rashford scored a brace to help England produce one of the most comfortable World Cup results of the weekend action. Since the dismal goalless draw with the USA, England manager Gareth Southgate has been questioned about Foden’s lack of playing time in the tournament thus far. At the start of the second half, the Manchester City attacker demonstrated what he can provide to this point. In the first World Cup finals match between two British teams, he first won a free-kick, which Rashford wonderfully converted (50), and then he tucked in at the back post (51) seconds later to put his nation on pace for an ultimately comfortable victory.
With just 10 minutes remaining, Rashford, who had replaced Raheem Sterling, could have given England the lead after Harry Kane slipped a wonderful pass through for him to sprint onto. However, Ward was out quickly at the edge of his area and read the attempted chip to block the forward’s shot. Then, as England’s revitalized attack started to click, Foden missed the target. However, well-organized Wales stopped that momentum, and nearly 20 minutes later, Harry Maguire’s almost-comical attempt to end a marauding run into the box by shooting wide for a throw-in encapsulated the frustration of his team.
Neco Williams had earlier suffered a blow by blocking a Rashford shot, and he was eventually forced off after 35 minutes. After that, England stepped it up in the lead-up to halftime, with their best move coming from Jude Bellingham, who turned Jordan Henderson’s pass to Walker before setting up the return pass for Foden to miss. After a quick counterattack in which Rashford erred with an overhead kick and failed to find Bellingham, Joe Allen finally fired Wales’ first attempt of the half in stoppage time. However, Wales suffered a significant setback when injured Bale had to leave the game at halftime, and England, who had been playing below par up until that moment, continued.
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