Kane stars in huge win that secures England's passage to the round of 16

Kane stars in huge win that secures England's passage to the round of 16
brandon-sayer
By Brandon Sayer
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That though is the end of today's coverage of the game between England and Panama. I hope you have enjoyed our coverage of the game. I have been Brandon Sayer taking you through the game, but until next time, have a good day.

This result means England have qualified for the round of 16 with one game to go but they will now fight it out against Belgium to see who finishes top of group G on Thursday evening.

Well the second half was much closer but in truth England took their foot off the pedal with Kane scoring in the second half to complete his hattrick but Panama did score a goal before the end to give their fans something to cheer about.

90+4' - The referee has blown his whistle to end the game. England 6-1 Panama. England have qualified for the last 16 of the World Cup.

90' - The referee has decided to add on four minutes at the end of the second half.

78' - Goal for Panama! Baloy gets Panama a goal as his low shot went into the back of the net from a freekick. All of the Panama fans in the stadium went wild when that flew into the net.

76' - What a chance for Panama to get goal back as Torres found himself with loads of space in the England box from a corner but he put his shot wide of the goal when he should have scored.

73' - Henderson almost made it seven for England as his volley from the edge of the box just went wide of the goal with the keeper beaten.

72' - Murillo receives a yellow card for a deliberate trip on Raheem Sterling.

70' - England substitution: Trippier is replaced by Danny Rose.

69' - Double Panama substitution: Arroyo and Baloy are coming on to replace Gomez and Barcenas.

66' - Panama almost get a goal back as Murillo was played through on goal by Barcenas but the right back saw shot well-saved by Pickford who finally had something to do in the game.

63' - Double substitution for England: Kane and Lingard are replaced by Delph and Vardy.

62' - Goal for England! Kane has a hattrick. This one though he didn't know much about his the ball hit his heel from a Loftus-Cheek shot. That was a very unlucky goal though for Panama as the keeper had no chance after the deflection.

54' - It's been a quiet start to the second half so far as the players look like they are taking a breather after such a frantic first half.

46' - The referee has blown his whistle to begin the second half. Game on!

Well that's just an incredible half of football from England. Two goals each from Stones and Kane plus a great strike from Lingard have put England in crusise control and this could only get worse in the second half. Will it though? Stay tuned as we bring it to you live in a few minutes time!

45+3' - The referee has blown his whistle for half-time. England 5-0 Panama.

45+1' - The referee has decided to add one two minutes at the end of the first half.

45+1' - Kane scores the penalty and England are 5-0 up already. This could be a cricket scoreline if Panama aren't careful.

44' - Penalty to England as Godoy fouls Kane in the box. Clear penalty that given how much holding their was going on. Escobar receives a yellow card for dissent.

40' - Goal for England! Stones scores his second goal of the game. This was a training ground routine of a freekick as Kane was found by Henderson who headed the ball across to Sterling who should have scored but he missed but Stones was their to head home to the rebound. Game set and match.

36' - Goal for England! Lingard adds a third for the Three Lions. This was a beautiful goal as it was all set up with a one-two with Sterling and Lingard received the ball on the edge of the box before curling the ball into the top corner of the net. Brilliant from England so far.

32' - Harry Maguire has a half chance for England as his looped header from a Tripper freekick just landed on top of the Panama net.

23' - Ruben Loftus-Cheek receives a yellow card for a late tackle. This game is very spicy indeed.

22' - Goal for England! Kane smashes home the penalty with style giving their keeper no chance. England aren't playing their most fluent football but are two goals to the good.

20' - Penalty to England as Escobar fouls Lingard in the box just before he was about to shoot at goal.

16' - Once again Panama show their attacking play as Barcenas unleashed a great strike from the edge of the box which just went wide of the goal with Pickford scrambling in goal.

10' - Cooper receives the first yellow card of the game for a late tackle on Jesse Lingard.

8' - Goal for England! Stones heads home the opener. Finally England play some good football and from a corner taken by Trippier Stones headed home his first goal for his country . That is just what England needed to settle them down.

4' - Panama have started well here and they had the first chance of the game after John Stones gave the ball away in a bad area but the defender was pleased to see Godoy fluff his lines when he should have hit the target in a good position.

1' - Referee Ghead Grisha has blown his whistle to begin the game. Game on!

Panama starting XI: Penedo, Murillo, Torres, Escobar, Davis, Gomez, Barcenas, Cooper, Godoy, Rodriguez, Perez.

England starting XI: Pickford, Trippier, Walker, Stones, Maguire, Young, Henderson, Loftus-Cheek, Lingard, Sterling, Kane.

The all important team news is in from the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium. Stay tuned as we bring it to you next!

08:01 Raheem Sterling is set to keep his place in the England squad despite previous reports suggesting otherwise. Matt Law of the Daily Telegraph has revealed that the unfit Alli will make way for Loftus-Cheek, though  

Kick-off at 1PM on a Sunday means most of England will be watching back home in pubs or their living rooms, and Lidl’s barbecue deals have probably seen a sharp increase in sales. But thanks for being with us, and make sure stay with us for live minute-by-minute commentary of Panama vs England. 

Temperature could play an important role in this lunchtime match. Panama are more accustomed to humid, warm playing temperatures, and England are not, with even their first match and training base in Russia being at a cool 17-18 degrees Celsius. Today’s temperature could reach 30 degrees throughout, while could reduce the game in quality between the sides to an extent. England will be the first to tell you that that cannot be an excuse for a failure to win, though. 

Southgate looks set to make some key changes after a frustrating first game against Tunisia. Dele Alli picked up a slight knock and though he played on with it, never contributed at 100%. Ruben Loftus-Cheek will come in for him, while Raheem Sterling may be dropped for Marcus Rashford. Sterling’s finishing was far from clinical in the opening game, but he contributed by simply being on the pitch, creating space because so many defenders were focused on swarming him every time he touched the ball. Rashford’s pace may be a deciding factor as well as the fact that Panama will set up a deep defensive line and a compact midfield that won’t allow Sterling the required space in which to flourish. 

That result means a win for England sets up a huge final fixture, with the winner topping the group. A draw, though, would likely mean Belgium being ahead on goal difference given they’ve netted eight in two games thus far. England can’t look even that far ahead yet, though, and will have been fully focused on Panama before considering Belgium or any other future opponents. 

Belgium took their tally to six points in Group G on Saturday with a 5-2 demolition of Tunisia. Lukaku scored another double, which means he’s level with Cristiano Ronaldo at the top of the goal scoring charts, and Eden Hazard also hit twice. 

Panama, meanwhile, are one of the worst teams in the tournament and were thoroughly beaten by Belgium thanks to a Romelu Lukaku double and one from Dries Mertens.

Manager Gareth Southgate's celebration was just as passionate and public as it was when he was a player. His players, meanwhile, celebrated both goals with a pile-on that sent smiles all the way back to England from 2,165 miles away.

It was almost a typically English embarrassment to start off 2018 in Russia, but captain Harry Kane delivered in the final moments, scoring his second of the night to secure a 2-1 win against Tunisia in Volgograd. 

So far, this has been the tournament where giants and World Cup favourites have fallen to countries of far lesser reputation. Countries like Mexico and Croatia beating countries like Germany and Argentina. Or maybe countries with populations of 330,000 or so. Well, Panama is made up of 4m people, and England aren’t a true ‘giant’, but Gareth Southgate will hope no slip up is on show today.