After a shaky start, England cruised to victory over Senegal to book their place in the quarter-finals – where they’ll face France. 

The first 30 minutes were shaky, to say the least, with goalkeeper Jordan Pickford making an incredible and vital save. Not long after Jordan Henderson poked home the first goal for England and the tempo and style of the game completely changed. 

Henderson’s goal came from Jude Bellingham’s cross at the 38-minute mark and from then England displayed their powerful attacking strength.

Bellingham – England’s star player – also had a role in setting up the second goal, which combined Phil Foden with Harry Kane – with the captain scoring his first goal of the tournament. 

Foden played a role in the third and final goal of the game – a 57th-minute cross for Bukayo Saka who showed off his great awareness and flicked the ball past the Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy. 

England shaky start to game  

Southgate opted to put Saka back in the squad, along with Foden and left out Marcus Rashford despite his two goals in the win over Wales. Raheem Sterling had already started to his journey back to the UK following an armed break-in at his home – it’s not clear if he’ll return to Qatar.

The shaky start exposed England’s weakness – the defence. Senegal had appeared to take advantage of Harry Maguire’s lack of fitness, and a few poor passes from both Maguire and John Stones lead to a few uncomfortable moments for England fans. 

But a big save from Pickford and a goal from Henderson reset the team and changed the pace of the game. Once England clicked they showed off their level of creation that gives them a real edge and makes them contenders for the World Cup. 

Those weaknesses will have been noted by the French and Gareth Southgate has a lot of decisions to make ahead of the Saturday match. 

Once Bellingham exerted his authority over the midfield, England were in control and sailed to victory. 

Bellingham is only 19 but he has been one of the outstanding players of the World Cup. 

Bellingham, along with Phil Foden have shown the strength of England’s midfield and while the game against France will be the hardest test of England’s campaign so far, it’s not unrealistic England will win. 

Henderson and Declan Rice allow Bellingham to flourish while Saka once again showed his maturity and threat from the wide positions along with Foden.

Now Kane has opened up his scoreboard, he’ll no doubt be chasing more goals and wanting to break Wayne Rooney’s record. 

Jordan Pickford makes vital save 

Jordan Pickford didn’t have much to do during the Senegal game but his one save early one proved vital. It paved the way for England to regroup and win. 

If Pickford hadn’t saved the ball the game could have easily gone away from England. 

Pickford’s place in the England squad is often questioned during Premier League season, but Pickford always turns up for England and Southgate’s faith in him is often rewarded.