England booked a mouth-watering quarterfinal clash against France as they beat African champions Senegal 3-0 in their Round of 16 clash. The victory kept the Three Lions’ fine record against African opposition intact- they’ve never lost a game to a team from the continent at the World Cup.
Senegal actually had two very decent chances to go ahead- the first saw Ismaila Sarr sky his shot from close range while the other, from Boulaye Dia, saw Jordan Pickford produce an outstanding reflex save.
Jude Bellingham has been growing in stature all tournament and this game was another fine outing from the young Borussia Dortmund star, who had a key role to play in both of England’s goals before the interval. He set up Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson for the first and was integral in the counter attack that saw Harry Kane find the back of the net on the stroke of half time.
There was a third to come as well, with Phil Foden assisting Bukayo Saka just before the hour mark. Aliou Cisse’s men weren’t quite at the races in the second half, and England eventually cruised to a comfortable win. They will now play defending champions France, who beat Poland 3-1 in their Ro16 clash.
