Key events
Jonathan Liew was at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium last night for England v Wales, and he says that Southgate has a dilemma:
As the teams disappeared down the tunnel at half-time you could almost feel the heat from the steam of a million middle-aged Englishmen collectively boiling their piss. A bright start had disintegrated into a staid passing circle, which as everyone knows is the wokest of all the shapes. But One Trick Gareth had a second trick up his sleeve. And it didn’t even involve a substitution.
So it was a few minutes into the second half that Foden, now restored to his favoured left flank, slalomed past three Wales players, winning a free-kick that Rashford slotted beautifully into the top corner. Less than two minutes later Rashford, now given the freedom of the right wing, won the ball from Ben Davies, allowing Kane to play Foden in for his first tournament goal.
Southgate now has a quiet dilemma on his hands. Bukayo Saka has had a good tournament; Raheem Sterling is his talisman; Mason Mount his rock. But you try dropping Foden and Rashford after a second half like that.
Read more here: Jonathan Liew – Gareth Southgate has a dilemma: try dropping Foden or Rashford now
You know the drill by now. Max and the gang were up late after the matches finished yesterday to bring you the latest daily edition of Football Weekly. Mr Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Troy Townsend, Elis James, Barney Ronay and Nick Ames as they talk about England, Wales and all that jazz. Get it in your ears here.
Preamble
It is the morning after the night before for United States fans basking in the glow of a place in the second round, Iran fans wondering what might have been, England fans puzzled if their team is good again now, and Wales fans dreaming it won’t be 64 years until the next time.
Then we’ve got the no small matter of four matches to get through as Group C and Group D come to the pointy end. Can Argentina redeem themselves – possibly at Poland’s expense? Will Saudi Arabia’s heroics in their opening match come to nothing? Do Mexico even know where the goal is? Can the Socceroos effectively send Denmark home and make the next round for the first time in 16 years? And how will France’s free-flowing football fare when it hits the tension of a post-colonial clash with Tunisia? France are already through, but any of the other seven can still join them. Here is how it lines up …
We will have MBM coverage of all of them. Before then I’ll have all the fallout from yesterday, media lines from the teams playing tomorrow as they emerge, and the buildup to this afternoon’s matches. Drop me a line at [email protected]