Hat-trick hero Kane helps England reach knockouts after beating Panama 6-1

Full-time analysis: England football team have demolished debutants Panama in their Group G FIFA World Cup clash at the Nizhny Novgorod stadium. John Stones open the account with a header with an assist from Keiran Trippier. Panama showed some attacking prowess when they carried the ball to England's half in a build-up play. However, they were undone by the English attack.

Harry Kane scored the 2nd goal in a penalty after Lingard was brought down in the box by Escobar in the 22nd minute.

The game after that was one-way traffic. In 36th minute J Lingard from ManUtd scored an excellent curler with an assist from Raheem Sterling. 

Within minutes Stones scored another header to make it 4-0 for England. England have scored four goals in a World Cup match for the first time the 1966 World Cup final against Germany.

As the halftime approached, the English attack continued and Panama were clueless as to how to stop them. 

Thus, they conceded another penalty as they brought down Harry Kane in the D box area. Harry scored the 5th goal for England today and also took his tally to 4 goals for the world cup. Kane is only the third England player to score three goals or more in a World Cup group stages, after Roger Hunt in 1966 and Gary Lineker in 1986.

This is only the fifth time in World Cup history that a team has scored 5+ goals in the first half of a match, with Germany vs Brazil in the 2014 semi-final the most recent occasion.

In the 2nd half, the goal scoring continued for England as a deflected shot from Lingard hit Harry Kane and went into the net. The goal from Harry Kane is the current leading scorer at the 2018 World Cup with five goals, scoring with all five of his shots on target in the tournament.

Harry Kane is the current leading scorer at the 2018 World Cup with five goals, scoring with all five of his shots on target in the tournament. England then opted to bring on some fresh legs and substituted captain Kane and brought in Jame Vardy and also Danny Rose.

The momentum of the match dropped as it headed for the end. 

The only highlight by the end was the goals scored by F Baloy who was almost in tears after scoring the first ever goal by Panama in a World Cup.

In the group G, Belgium and England are now equalled in the top with 6 points.

Head coach Southgate now has the option of resting key players for the match against Belgium. The situation is an interesting one as the winner of Group G could have the harder road ahead of them than second place. England and Belgium are locked in on equal points and goals scored, meaning a draw could see top place decided by the fair play rule. Food for thought for Southgate ahead of next week.

Trivia: Only in 1966 (11) have England scored more goals in a single World Cup tournament than they have in 2018 (8 - also in 1954 and 1990).

Harry Kane is the current leading scorer at the 2018 World Cup with five goals, scoring with all five of his shots on target in the tournament.

Harry Kane is only the third England player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup match, after Geoff Hurst in the 1966 final, and GaryLineker vs Poland in 1986. 

Updates: 

78 min:F Baloy scores Panama's first World Cup goal ever

62min:Harry Kane scores his first world cup hattrick with an assist from Loftus Cheek

Trivia: 

Harry Kane is the current leading scorer at the 2018 World Cup with five goals, scoring with all five of his shots on target in the tournament.

Harry Kane is only the third England player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup match, after Geoff Hurst in the 1966 final, and GaryLineker vs Poland in 1986.

Half-time analysis: England football team have demolished debutants Panama in their Group G FIFA World Cup clash at the Nizhny Novgorod stadium in the first half. John Stones open the account with a header with an assist from Keiran Trippier.

Panama showed some attacking prowess when they carried the ball to England's half in a build-up play. However, they were undone by the English attack.

Harry Kane scored the 2nd goal in a penalty after Lingard was brought down in the box by Escobar in the 22nd minute.

The game after that was one-way traffic. In 36th minute J Lingard from ManUtd scored an excellent curler with an assist from Raheem Sterling. 

Within minutes Stones scored another header to make it 4-0 for England. England have scored four goals in a World Cup match for the first time the 1966 World Cup final against Germany.

 As the halftime approached, the English attack continued and Panama were clueless as to how to stop them. 

Thus, they conceded another penalty as they brought down Harry Kane in the D box area. Harry scored the 5th goal for England today and also took his tally to 4 goals for the world cup. Kane is only the third England player to score three goals or more in a World Cup group stages, after Roger Hunt in 1966 and Gary Lineker in 1986.

Trivia: This is only the fifth time in World Cup history that a team has scored 5+ goals in the first half of a match, with Germany vs Brazil in the 2014 semi-final the most recent occasion.

England football team would be looking to continue its winning momentum when it will lock horns with debutants Panama in their Group G FIFA World Cup clash at the Nizhny Novgorod stadium in Russia on Sunday.

Updates:

45 min:Harry Kane scores the penalty after being pulled down by Godoy

40 min: Stones scores a header again

36 min: Lingard scores a beautiful curler with an assist from Raheem Sterling

22 min: Harry Kane scores the penalty after Lingard brought down in the box under pressure from Escobar.

16 min: Marcenas strikes an excellent curler with his left foot, which misses the target.

8 min: John Stones scores a sublime header with an assist from Kieran Trippier. 

Trivia

Harry Kane's penalty was the first converted by an England player at the World Cup since 2002, when David Beckham scored from the spot against Argentina.

Kane is only the third England player to score three goals or more in a World Cup group stages, after Roger Hunt in 1966 and Gary Lineker in 1986.

John Stones is the second ManCity player to score for England at the World Cup, and the first since Trevor Francis in 1982. 

All three of England's goals at the 2018 World Cup have been from corners - as many as in their previous 34 combined in the competition. 

Line-ups:

Panama subs: Harold Cummings, Gabriel Torres, Ismael Diaz, Jose Calderon, Adolfo Machado, Valentin Pimentel, Abdiel Arroyo, Luis Ovalle, Luis Tejeda, Ricardo Avila, Alex Rodriguez, Felipe Baloy.
 

PANAMA (4-14-1): Jaime Penedo; Michael Murillo, Roman Torres, Fidel Escobar, Eric Davis; Gabriel Gomez; Edgar Barcenas, Armando Cooper, Anibal Godoy, Jose Luis Rodriguez; Blas Perez.
 

England subs: Danny Rose, Eric Dier, Jamie Vardy, Jack Butland, Danny Welbeck, Gary Cahill, Phil Jones, Fabian Delph, Marcus Rashford, Dele Alli, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Nick Pope.
 

ENGLAND (3-1-4-2): Jordan Pickford; Kyle Walker, John Stones, Harry Maguire; Jordan Henderson; Kieran Trippier, Jesse Lingard, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Ashley Young; Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling.

England head into the game after eking Tunisia with a narrow 2-1 win, courtesy a last-minute header by skipper Harry Kane, giving his team a victory in the campaign after 12 years.

The Tottenham Hotspur striker, who is England's youngest World Cup captain ever at 24, also found the net at the beginning of the game to keep his team ahead in the match.

England would be looking to eye a spot in the round of 16 by earning three more points to ensure their qualification to the next round.

Injuries

England manager Gareth Southgate has confirmed that Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli has been ruled out of the Sunday's game due to a thigh strain. Alli sustained the injury during their Panama fixture.

According to the notes, Marcus Rashford will replace Sterling with Ruben Loftus-Cheek stepping in for Dele Alli, who suffered a thigh injury against Tunisia.

"If we were to give the opposition the opportunity of having our team it's a disadvantage to us," Southgate was quoted as saying as he criticised the media for helping the opposition.

"So of course our media has to decide if they want to help the team or not." Southgate's planned team was inadvertently revealed when assistant manager Steve Holland's notes were photographed at training on Thursday.

On the other hand, Panama, who is playing their first World Cup would be looking to open their account with a win to stay in contention for progressing to the round of 16.

Although Panama made a promising start, Belgium rode away with a fantastic 3-0 win against the Latin American side.

England's 1st match

England struggled against the well organised and physically imposing Tunisian defence in their first match of the tournament. Skipper and star striker Harry Kane's last-gasp winner in second half injury time handed England a winning start for the first time in a major tournament after 12 years.

England dominated the game and wasted a hatful of chances against Tunisia, and on Sunday coach Gareth Southgate would want his wards to improve on that.

The star players

Raheem Sterling and Jesse Lingard were particularly guilty of spurning simple chances before Kane saved them the blushes.

Kane, who plays for Tottenham Hotspur in the English Premier League (EPL) and is a two-time EPL Golden Boot winner, lived up to his billing and performed on the biggest stage for his country with the first double by an English player at the World Cup since Gary Lineker in 1990.

Sterling had a wonderful season with Manchester City, scoring 23 goals to help them lift the EPL title. But for England, the former Liverpool forward has been rather off the boil, having not found the back of the net in his last 21 internationals.

However, Rashford refuted suggestions England are too dependent on Kane for goals.

"I don't think that's happening in this group," said the Manchester United striker, who admitted to being an admirer of Kane's ability to be in the right place at the right time.

"He gets himself in great positons. If we can find him, we will, and, more often than not, he's going to score."

The Panama challenge

Minnows Panama meanwhile, have shown that they can keep their shape and frustrate opponents. They did well against fancied Belgium in their first game.

In the first half, Belgium could not breach Panama's defence and match their power. In the second half though, they were undone by the more skilful Belgium players and lost 0-3.

Racking up goals against Panama could be crucial if England are to top Group G.

Panama coach Dario Gomez said his team could still advance to the knockout stages even if they concede another big defeat in their second FIFA World Cup match against England on Sunday.

"The outcome against England could be easily the same or an even bigger score. But (our) options to qualify are there," Gomez said in the pre-match presser, reports Efe.

Having played one game, Panama sits in the third spot in Group G on goal difference ahead of Tunisia, which was effectively eliminated following their loss to Belgium and their 1-2 defeat by England.

Eric Dier's challenge

As they prepare to face Panama on Sunday, Eric Dier believes England cannot leave anything to chance during these world finals.  

On a related note, the full England and Panama squads are as follows:

England squad

Goalkeepers: Nick Pope, Jordan Pickford, Jack Butland.

Defenders: Kyle Walker, Danny Rose, John Stones, Harry Maguire, Kieran Trippier, Gary Cahill, Phil Jones, Fabian Delph, Ashley Young, Trent-Alexander Arnold.

Midfielders: Eric Dier, Jesse Lingard, Jordan Henderson, Dele Alli, Ruben-Loftus Cheek.

Forwards: Harry Kane (C), Raheem Sterling, Jamie Vardy, Danny Welbeck, Marcus Rashford.

Panama squad

Goalkeepers: Jose Calderon , Jaime Penedo, Alex Rodriguez.

Defenders: Felipe Baloy, Harold Cummings, Eric Davis, Fidel Escobar, Adolfo Machado, Michael Murillo, Luis Ovalle, Roman Torres (C).

Midfielders: Edgar Barcenas, Armando Cooper , Anibal Godoy, Gabriel Gomez, Valentin Pimentel, Alberto Quintero, Jose Luis Rodriguez.

Forwards: Abdiel Arroyo, Ismael Diaz, Blas Perez, Luis Tejada, Gabriel Torres.

Germany vs Sweden: When and Where to watch

Time: 5:30 PM (IST)

In today's Group G match, England vs Panama match will take place in Nizhny Novgorod stadium on Sunday, June 24, 2018, at 5:30 PM (IST).

England vs Panama match will be broadcast on Sony Ten 2, Sony Ten 2 HD, Sony ESPN, Sony ESPN HD in English Commentary and Sony Ten 3 and Sony 3 HD in Hindi Commentary.

England vs Panama match will be available for live streaming on Sony Liv also. And Both Airtel and Jio would broadcast the FIFA World Cup 2018 matches for free to their respective subscribers.