Bellingham and Kane Strike as England Beat Panama 2-0 to Win World Cup Group L

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — England did not play like a World Cup favorite on Saturday. They played like a team that understood exactly what the afternoon required, and no more than that. A rain-soaked, anxious, first half gave way to a second half in which Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane did what stars are supposed to do: they ended the argument. England beat Panama 2-0 at MetLife Stadium and finished top of Group L.

The winners did not exactly sparkle, and Thomas Tuchel's reaction to the opening goal said as much. But for Kane, there was history in it. For England, there was a safer road through the round of 32. And for the 80,663 in attendance, a good chunk of them singing like it was Wembley, there was Wonderwall at the end.

A First Half That Made England Nervous

Panama arrived with nothing to play for in the standings and a point to make about respect. Under Thomas Christiansen they sat in a compact 5-4-1, but as The Guardian pointed out, this was not a bus-parking exercise. Los Canaleros pushed forward on the counter, and England looked too open at the back.

England had the early look. Marcus Rashford cut inside in the eighth minute and drew a save from Orlando Mosquera, and Bukayo Saka, back in the lineup, was denied by a Jorge Gutiérrez block. After that, the pickings were slim. Rashford headed a half-chance over and curled a free kick wide, and every time England tried to work the ball to the wide men, Panama simply shuffled across.

The scariest moment of the half came on 26 minutes, when José Luis Rodríguez slipped up the inside-left channel and fired low for the near corner. Jordan Pickford saved it. Tuchel, selecting for tempo, had put Jarell Quansah at right-back in place of the injured Reece James and rested Declan Rice, who was carrying a knock and a yellow card. The Guardian described the home end as anxious, and that was fair.

Bellingham Breaks Through

Tuchel changed nothing at the break, and England changed the afternoon anyway. In the 62nd minute Saka delivered a corner, Bellingham got the better of Gutiérrez, and he steered a low volley into the net. The Guardian called it expertly steered, and the telling detail was on the touchline: Tuchel did not celebrate. He looked annoyed. That was the whole mood of this performance in one image.

It also may have been the right read. England were holding on to a one-goal lead against a team that had spent the first half proving it could hurt them. They needed a second.

Kane Takes the Record

They got it five minutes later, in the 67th. Bellingham drove up the inside-left, jinked one way and then another, and put in a cross that a winger would have been proud to call his own. Kane planted a close-range header across the goalkeeper, and the stadium came apart.

It was Kane's 11th World Cup goal, one more than Gary Lineker, and it made him England's all-time leading scorer at World Cups. BBC Sport noted it was also his 82nd goal for England, in 117 appearances. Kane had only 10 touches in the first half, the fewest of any player on the pitch, according to the Associated Press. Then he scored the goal that rewrote the record book. That is a striker's afternoon in a sentence.

The Late Scare, and the Henderson Moment

England got a bit sloppy as the match wound down. Panama substitute José Fajardo ran through and put the ball in the net, only to be pulled back for a marginal offside. Fajardo nearly latched onto another ball in, with a diving header that did not trouble the goal. Noni Madueke, a late substitute, was denied after a cute through ball from Morgan Rogers, and Rashford wasted a chance for a third.

One substitution carried its own piece of history. Jordan Henderson came on late and, per BBC Sport, became the first England player to appear at four World Cups. In a match about records, England got two.

The Numbers

BBC Sport's match stats show England with 67 percent of possession, 17 shots against Panama's 13, six shots on target against two, and seven corners against three, with four offsides apiece. Panama, who left the tournament with no points, did not score a goal in three matches, a fact England's FA match report pointed out.

There is a gap, though, between the stat sheet and the eye test, and The Guardian wrote it plainly: England are not going to win the World Cup playing like this. The theory that rain and a heavy pitch would favor a Premier League performance did not translate into a Premier League performance.

What It Means

Winning the group matters. It gives England a better bracket and a round-of-32 meeting with DR Congo in Atlanta on Wednesday. It also gives Tuchel a pile of homework. England beat Croatia 4-2 in the opener, were held to a bore draw by Ghana in game two, and then found a way to be uncomfortable against a Panama team that was already eliminated. That is not a crisis. It is a pattern worth watching.

The positive reading is simple: England did what elite teams do. They were not good and they won. The negative reading is just as simple. A tougher opponent might not allow the same margin of error, and Tuchel knows it.

The Close

Kane will have his record. Bellingham will have his assist and his goal. Henderson will have his place in the history books. Panama will have the memory of a team that refused to roll over, and a disallowed goal that will haunt Fajardo for a while.

But the final image of the afternoon was the crowd, in the rain, singing Wonderwall in a stadium that felt a thousand miles from Manchester. England survived phase one. Phase two does not come with a safety net.

Photo Credit: Oliver Figueroa-Celi/Undrafted