90min

Twitter reacts as England cruise past Wales into World Cup last 16

By Tom Gott

A routine win for England
A routine win for England / Richard Sellers/GettyImages
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England sealed their place in the last 16 of the World Cup with an ultimately routine 3-0 victory over Wales.

Needing to avoid a four-goal defeat, the Three Lions nearly secured that scoreline themselves as they made light work of their local rivals, whose own World Cup campaign ended in dismal fashion.

England went strong with their starting lineup, although Gareth Southgate did make a handful of changes.

In came the likes of Marcus Rashford, Jordan Henderson and Phil Foden, but some fans were left wanting more.

The reception to the Wales lineup wasn't overly positive either.

The first sight of the game fell to Marcus Rashford, who was played through one-on-one inside ten minutes.

Out came Leicester's Danny Ward, who rose to the challenge.

Wales offered very little in the early stages but England, while dominant in possession, weren't doing a lot either.

There was one man who seemed to attract most of the blame.

That was the vibe for the entire first half as England dominated the ball but offered very little creativity, while Wales looked like they'd never even heard of 'football'.

Thankfully, there was no such wait for action in the second half.

England thundered their way into the lead through Rashford's sensational free-kick, which thundered into the top corner from all of 25 yards.

And while I was still searching for tweets to put in, England made it 2-0.

Harry Kane squared the ball for Phil Foden, who scored the easiest goal of his life as he tapped home from inside the six-yard box.

The second half really was the Rashford show as he scored England's 100th World Cup goal at the end of a great team move, driving right at Connor Roberts before thumping the ball through Danny Ward.

In this sort of form, with this sort of confidence, it's hard not to get excited.

It was a marvellous performance from England, who flipped the narrative back on its head once again.

With a clash with Senegal set up for the last 16, fans were already starting to lick their lips.

On the other side of things, it was a frustrating end to the tournament for Wales, who headed to Qatar with real hope but failed to produce anything even close to good enough.

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