Panama drown in wave of England attack

England wrapped up their group stage with a 2-0 win over Panama at the Metlife Stadium as they clinched the top spot in Group L of FIFA World Cup 2026. After a slow start to the game, the Three Lions finally found the back of the net in the 62nd minute through Jude Bellingam, who then set up Harry Kane up for the team’s second in the 67th minute. Panama, who were already eliminated from knockout contention prior to this game, ended their 2026 campaign with three losses and zero goals, despite coming agonisingly close on multiple occasions.

England will be happy with the final result of the game, but their performance left a lot to be desired. After their previous match against Ghana, where the English offence was unable to find a goal over 90 minutes, Thomas Tuchel made a lot of changes to the starting line-up to face Panama. Nico O’ Reilly returned to the left-back position over Djed Spence, while Jarell Quansah got his first start of the campaign replacing the injured Reece James.

While Tuchel elected to keep the same 4-2-3-1 formation, Bellingham was dropped back from his usual role as an attacking midfielder while Morgan Rogers replaced him in front. This decision was made probably so that Declan Rice, who was reported as having some minor injuries, could rest and be fully fit for the knockout stages. The biggest changes came in the frontline, with Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka replacing Anthony Gordon and Noni Madueke on the wings. Gordon had been struggling over the first two games to find his form, while Saka had been one of the brighter spots in the England attack against Ghana, so both of the changes made sense.

It should have been an easy day at the office for the Three Lions, but today they just seemed to lack a sense of identity and cohesion for the major part of the game. They seemed sluggish going forward, especially in the first half, with a lot of the English attacks not being particularly threatening. But more importantly, they struggled in controlling the midfield areas, which could be attributed to the absence of Rice, whose work rate in the defensive half is so vital to Tuchel’s style of play.

Bellingham just seemed out of place in the position and Elliot Anderson was forced to do a lot of work to cover the space that Rice usually covers. There are questions as to why Tuchel didn’t opt to start someone like Kobbie Mainoo in that position which would have allowed Bellingham to start in his natural position.

Despite the criticism, Bellingham proved once again that he is always the man for the moments. Time and time again, whether it’s in an England shirt or a Real Madrid jersey, he has proved that you can look to him to change the game and it was no different today. In the 62nd minute, a corner taken by Saka fell perfectly into Bellingham’s path and he made no mistake to put it into the back of the net.

Even though he was being held by a Panamanian defender, he managed to just stick his leg out and nudge the ball off his toe for the goal. As he ran to the corner flag and raised his arms for his signature celebration, a sigh of relief seemed to run through for the England fans in the stadium and for the players themselves. Breaking the deadlock seemed to have taken a burden off the team and for the final third of the game, they looked a lot more like the team that defeated Croatia 4-2 in the opener.

In the 67th minute, Bellingham made a good run into space to receive a long ball just outside the left side of the Panamanian box. From there, it was just a simple matter of looking up and sending the ball into the middle where Harry Kane was lying in wait to head it home. The goal marked Kane’s 11th goal in World Cup history, overtaking Gary Lineker to become England’s top scorer in World Cup.

With that comfortable two goal cushion, England went on to close the game with a clean sheet and secure first place in Group L. Unfortunately for Panama, their 2026 campaign ended without the team being able to score even a single goal and losing all three of their matches despite putting up a valiant effort. They were unlucky against Ghana in their opener, conceding a last minute winner, and held their own against the giants Croatia and England for the majority of their games before eventually conceding. Their major weakness was clearly a lack of end product on the offensive side of the pitch, and hopefully, this is a team that will recognise that and come back stronger for the next tournament.

On the other hand, England are set to face one of the third placed teams from Group I or K, which will likely be Senegal or DR Congo, in the round of 32. Tuchel and company will have to bolster their strategy if they want to be seen as a true contender, as their last two games should have been a lot more straightforward. If Tuchel does take one thing away from this game, it should be that Jude Bellingham should be allowed to return to his place in the 10 and to finally settle on which wing pairing should start the games.

The Three Lions’ struggle shows that despite the treasure trove of options available to him, it is finally up to the manager to put the right pieces together for the team to perform at their best. They will be awaiting their next opponent in round of 32 in Atlanta on July 1.