Jude Bellingham scored one goal and set up another to ensure England qualified for the World Cup knockout rounds as group winners on Saturday with a laboured 2-0 victory over Panama in New Jersey.

Bellingham provided the crucial breakthrough for England with a 62nd-minute goal at a rainswept MetLife Stadium and then provided the cross for Harry Kane to double England’s advantage minutes later and seal top spot in Group L.

Until Bellingham’s intervention, England had looked to be heading for another lacklustre stalemate following their 0-0 draw with Ghana in their second group game.

But the Three Lions’ victory means they will now face one of the best third-placed teams in the last 32 in Atlanta on Wednesday, rather than a potential meeting with Portugal in the knockout rounds.

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Croatia meanwhile made sure of claiming second place in the group behind England with a 2-1 victory over Ghana in Philadelphia.

Petar Sucic and Nikola Vlasic scored the goals for Croatia, as Ghana were forced to settle for third.

Kane moves past Lineker

Kane’s third goal of the tournament, after his brace in the opening 4-2 win over Croatia, means the England captain has now moved clear of Gary Lineker as his country’s all-time leading World Cup scorer with 11.

Three of those goals came when England thrashed Panama 6-1 at the 2018 tournament in Russia, but the Three Lions did not have things quite so easy this time against hard-working but limited opponents.

Questions were perhaps being asked about England’s World Cup prospects an hour into this match, following the goalless draw against Ghana in Boston last Tuesday.

They have not yet reached the same heights again as in their victory against Croatia, but England advance to the next round on top of the group with seven points out of a possible nine.

Topping the section is important, as it means they avoid a possible clash with Spain in the last 16.

Instead they will head to Atlanta for a tie next Wednesday, July 1 against a third-placed team. Win that, and they will be off to Mexico City in the last 16, possibly to play Mexico, in the Azteca Stadium where they lost to Diego Maradona’s Argentina in 1986.

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Tuchel will not be getting carried away thinking that far ahead, and there is surely a lot for England still to do before they are truly ready to take on and beat the tournament’s other heavyweights.

That said, it is unlikely they will come up against any more sides who play with such a low defensive block as Ghana did, and as Panama did for much of this contest.

The Central American nation, ranked 34th in the world, competed well but created few chances and have still never won a point at the tournament.

They lost all three group games at their debut World Cup in 2018, and go out after losing all three matches this time — all without scoring, with this result following 1-0 reverses against Ghana and Croatia.

Rashford to the fore

Tuchel made five changes to his line-up following the Ghana encounter, notably choosing to rest Declan Rice from the midfield. Marcus Rashford and Saka got their first starts of the World Cup on the wings.

Rashford forced a good save from Panama goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera inside the opening 10 minutes, and later headed over an Elliot Anderson cross before curling a free-kick just past in first-half stoppage time.

Panama did also threaten once in the opening period, when Jordan Pickford had to get down to stop a Jose Luis Rodriguez shot at his near post.

England were pedestrian before the break, but the match started to open up for them following the restart.

Jose Cordoba nearly forced an own goal when his clearance came off teammate Andres Andrade and went narrowly over, and Mosquera then denied Kane.

A goal was beginning to feel inevitable and it arrived on 62 minutes as Bellingham held off Jorge Gutierrez at Saka’s corner to turn the ball in.

That was his second goal of the competition, and he then turned provider for Kane to make sure of the win.

Jose Fajardo then thought he had a late consolation for Panama, but his effort was disallowed for offside.

It has probably been England’s least remarkable group-stage showing at a World Cup since 2014, when they went out in the first round. This time, however, they are safely through.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)