A dominant England made short work of African champions Senegal, storming into the quarterfinal of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, with a clinical 3-0 win at the Al Bayt Stadium.
Jordan Henderson opened the scoring in the 38th minute, tapping in a cross from Jude Bellingham, who was the pick of the English players, as youth and experience combined well to give England the lead.
Skipper Harry Kane then scored his first goal at this World Cup, just before half time to make it 2-0. The assist came from Phil Foden, as Kane kept his cool and took his time before unleashing the shot past Edouard Mendy. Kane, who had the most goals - six - at the 2018 World Cup, is now only one goal behind Wayne Rooney (53), the top scorer for England.
The goal got England back into a game that was threatening to get away from them. The Senegalese attack, especially Ismaila Sarr, put pressure on the English defenders, who looked a bit slow and gave away the ball a couple of times, especially Harry Maguire. England looked shaky whenever Senegal pressed, but were more fluent after the goal.
Their form continued into the opening minutes of the second half. Kane tried his luck with a shot from afar in the 56th minute, but Mendy managed a nervy save. A minute later, Bukayo Saka scored his third goal of this World Cup, in the 57th minute, with a clever finish off a Foden pass to give England a 3-0 lead.
No team had a better record heading in the round of 16, and England kept that form up. The rest of the game was more or less an England show, with some good attacks and control in the middle.
Gareth Southgate's England, who made the semifinals at the previous World Cup, in Russia, and were runners-up at Euro 2020, will now play France in the quarterfinals on December 11.
