England Ruthlessly Crush Panama To Qualify For World Cup Second Round
Published
| Last updated
Well, there it is. England are through to the next round of the FIFA World Cup in Russia after demolishing a Panama side that seemed a little bit more suited to a scrap outside a pub than a game of football.
They didn't just win, they only went and won 6-1. That literally doesn't ever happen.
Loading…
England filled their boots early on and then didn't let up. It could have finished up as a cricket score had Panama not bucked their ideas up at least slightly.
Of course, we've already established that after battling past Tunisia that England are 100 percent definitely going to win the World Cup, but surely there can be no more doubts after seeing them clinically dismantle potentially the worst team to feature at a World Cup finals in recent memory.
There is a catch, though - in all likelihood it could be better off not to top the group. The team that comes first in England's group could end up on a collision course with Brazil or Germany, whereas the second placed team will most likely face the winner of the group containing Senegal, Colombia, Poland, and Japan.
Either way, they looked pretty impressive today and Harry Kane played himself into the reckoning for the Golden Boot award for the tournament's highest goal scorer.
It's coming home
- Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher) June 24, 2018
Of course, it might have been nice had he given John Stones the opportunity to shoot for his third, but - as any striker knows - it's all about him and he has to score the most goals.
Anyway, Harry bagged a hat-trick and now sits alone atop the goal scoring charts.
He is ahead of some big names too. Even the mighty Cristiano Ronaldo only has four goals so far, this tournament.
Romelu Lukaku also has four goals after his Belgium side swatted aside Tunisia in a 5-2 victory yesterday.
The next step for the English side (if they know what's good for them) is to engineer a spirited loss against Belgium in their next group game in Kaliningrad on Thursday to make sure that they get a slightly easier draw as they plot their route to the final through the round of 16.
As for Panama, they are gone. Deservedly so, as well. They were pretty much awful throughout and weren't exactly sportsmanlike at times. They paid the price for it with two penalties, emphatically dispatched by England's number nine, Kane.
They did eventually get their goal in the second half through 37-year-old Felipe Baloy. At least that gave Panama's excellent fans something to cheer about.
If you think that 5-0 against Panama at half time means England are guaranteed to win the World Cup ..... YOURE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT ITS COMING HOME :heart:
- Thomas King (@tomking_) June 24, 2018
England :flag_black: to win the World Cup... 5 up:soccer::soccer::soccer::soccer::soccer: Harry Kane Golden Boot winner :trophy:
- Chris Sutton (@chris_sutton73) June 24, 2018
As you can see, if the internet is anything to go by, England's name is already on the trophy. However, it would be better to stay at least a bit grounded in reality.
While England were impressive, and will have sent a message to the rest of the teams in Russia, bear in mind it was only Panama, and there is a long way to go yet...
.png)
.png)
