Bellingham and Kane secure top spot for England

England made sure of first place in Group L as second-half goals by Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane earned their second win of this FIFA World Cup 2026 at New York New Jersey Stadium.

England had thrashed Panama 6-1 when the teams met at Russia 2018 but this was a closer contest as Thomas Christiansen’s team frustrated England in the first half. It was Bellingham who provided the key, holding off his marker and prodding in on the volley from Bukayo Saka’s corner after 62 minutes. The England No 10 then crossed for Kane to head his 11th World Cup goal – one more than previous record-holder Gary Lineker.

After England’s stalemate against Ghana, coach Thomas Tuchel had made five changes, including first starts in North America for the attacking trio of Morgan Rogers, Marcus Rashford and Saka. It was Rashford who produced their most notable threats of the first period, cutting inside and drawing a full-stretch save from Orlando Mosquera with an early strike and then heading over at the far post from Elliot Anderson’s cross.

The wet conditions were familiar to England but so too the scenario of dominating the ball yet struggling to break down well-drilled opponents. Indeed Panama might have nicked a goal just after the first hydration break, when Jose Luis Rodriguez broke into space on the left and tested Jordan Pickford with a strong shot turned behind at the near post

The main direction of travel continued towards Panama’s goal in the second half with Mosquera making a flying save from Kane before Bellingham's second goal of the tournament broke the deadlock.

Panama, who saw a late Jose Fajardo strike ruled out for offside, will head home without a point or a goal (despite reaching double figures for goal attempts here). For Tuchel's men, meanwhile, a Round of 32 tie against a third-placed team from Group E, H, I, J or K awaits in Atlanta on Wednesday, 1 July.

Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford moved into outright second place on England’s all‑time World Cup appearance list, with his 15th outing moving him clear of Bobby Moore, Bobby Charlton, Terry Butcher and Ashley Cole – leaving only Peter Shilton, on 17, ahead of him.

"We did what we needed. It was as we expected against a difficult opponent. We were the only team to create this amount of chances against Panama. Everyone did what we needed to do and Jude was a big part of that. There's more to build on and you have to get so many details right with the aggressive approach we take. But the tournament starts again now with the knockouts. We collect our strengths and our energy and we build on what we have. We will step up. The bigger the games, the better we'll get," Tuchel said.

“The tournament starts again now in the knockouts.

“Now we collect our strengths and we build on what we have. The team spirit, fighting spirit, the belief and we will step up.

“The bigger the games get, the bigger we will get.”

"The first job achieved: we came here to do it in sections and now we've achieved that first objective to get through the group and to top it as well. We knew what level we wanted to achieve and we did it second half. Every game we've got to improve and it's up to us to achieve that. The assist was a good combination of play and the (England World Cup goalscoring) record is everything Harry Kane deserves," Player of the Match Bellingham stated.