England dominated Senegal 3-0 at Al Bayt Stadium to advance to the FIFA World Cup (FWC) quarter-finals, maintaining their unbeaten record against African nations in football’s biggest tournament.
Gareth Southgate and Aliou Cissé will have expected their respective teams to play with zeal, despite early scares from Boulaye Dia and Bukayo Saka, who came close to stealing the ball from Abdou Diallo in their own box. Senegal had the best chance of the first half-hour, with Dia’s shot blocked by Stones before falling to Ismala Sarr, who fired over
close range as Jordan Pickford collapsed at his feet With a strike that skipped off the turf, Dia forced Pickford into the game’s first big save.
After surviving those worrying moments, England demonstrated the quality to go ahead with a slick move that culminated in Jude Bellingham sliding the ball across for Jordan Henderson to coolly finish. After going two games without a first-half goal, the Three Lions scored two in 10 minutes as Bellingham marched forward before passing to Phil Foden, who tidily slipped in Harry Kane, the captain’s composed finish marking his tenth FWC goal contribution.
Cissé’s triple change at HT in response to that double blow did little to change the flow of the game as England played with abandon, a venomous Kane strike had to be awkwardly saved by Édouard Mendy. Just moments later, Foden left Youssouf Sabaly in his wake before setting up Saka for a beautifully dinked finish that added extra comfort to Southgate’s side. With Senegal’s situation looking bleak, Pape Matar Sarr hit a hopeful free-kick that, despite hitting the side netting, never looked like troubling Pickford.
Marcus Rashford’s late effort was off target, but it didn’t matter as the Three Lions advanced to the quarter-finals, where they will face France, having kept three consecutive clean sheets and equaling their best-ever goalscoring campaign in this competition. Meanwhile, Senegal finished one game short of their best result after becoming the third African country to qualify for the knockout stages twice, after Nigeria and Ghana.
