World Cup
Group G
Full Time: England 6-1 Panama
Date: 24 June 2018
Venue: Nizhny Novgorod Stadium
England captain Harry Kane scored a hat-trick to send his country into the last 16 of the 2018 FIFA World Cup after smashing Panama 6-1 in a Group G match at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium on Sunday.
It was the perfect start for the Three Lions, who took the lead in the eighth minute when John Stones headed home unmarked from a Kieran Trippier free-kick, 1-0.
England were afforded an opportunity to double their lead in the 20th minute when Fidel Escobar pulled down Jesse Lingard and the referee pointed to the penalty spot.
Kane stepped up and emphatically fired home from the spot to make it 2-0.
In the 36th minute, the Three Lions scored the best goal of the half when Lingard curled a 22-yard effort into the top corner of the net, 3-0.
Four minutes later it was 4-0 after a beautifully worked free-kick, with four different players touching the ball, which resulted in Stones heading home from close range after the keeper initially stopped a Raheem Sterling header.
The Three Lions were awarded a second penalty two minutes before the break when Anibal Godoy bundled Kane to the ground at a corner kick and the referee did not hesitate to point to the spot.
Captain Kane stepped up for the second time and, much like his first penalty, he smashed the ball into the corner of the goal to make it 5-0 at half-time.
It was a slow start to the second half, but England did find their sixth goal just after the hour mark when a long-range shot from Ruben Loftus-Cheek deflected off Kane and found its way into the net to complete the Tottenham man's hat-trick, 6-0.
Panama did manage to find some consolation with their first ever goal in a World Cup in the 78th minute when Felipe Baloy got onto the end of a left-sided free-kick to slide the ball home from 12-yards out, 6-1.
The match lost its spark after that and fluttered out to a rather dull close as England secured a spot in the knockout stages of the World Cup.
The loss for Panama sees them exit the competition, along with fellow group strugglers Tunisia.
Here is how they lined up.
England: Jordan Pickford; Kyle Walker, John Stones, Harry Maguire; Kieran Trippier (Danny Rose 70'), Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Jordan Henderson, Jesse Lingard (Fabian Delph 64'), Ashley Young; Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane (Jamie Vardy 63').
Panama: Jaime Penedo; Roman Torres, Fidel Escobar, Michael Murillo, Eric Davis; Gabriel Gomez (Felipe Baloy 69'), Anibal Godoy (Ricardo Avila 63'), Armando Cooper, Edgar Barcenas (Abdiel Arroyo 69'), Jose Luis Rodriguez; Blas Perez.
