World Cup: England beat Panama – 5 Live Reaction

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1:28They've got sight set further on in this tournament, but the job is done. This match is won and they've topped the group. 2-0 against Panama. Alan Shearer. Well, the first aim is to win the game. Secondly, can you win the game and put in a really good performance? Probably not, no. There's plenty to work on, but they've won the game. They've had to rely on the brilliance of Bellingham and Kane and Anderson, but that's fine. So many other teams rely on their big hitters, so England can do that. One or two wobbles defensively. but all in all the belief in the confidence that this should give them going forward it's been a good afternoon yep Jude Bellingham with his eighth goal for England his second at this World Cup and then setting up the goal five minutes later for Harry Kane to head in what was his record 11th goal for England edging ahead of Gary Lineker at the top of that particular list so Panama nil England 2 it is and England will be heading to the round of 32 in Atlanta that's their next date on Wednesday so 2-0 to England and here's Mark Chapman with us in the stadium I think you can already guess can't you John what they're going to say to you when you go and interview them you know the players will say well we've topped the group and that's all that matters Thomas Tinker will say we've topped the group and there are probably some things to work on and it's actually the same as it was under Gareth Southgate and we heard him say that so much at a tournament you've got to negotiate your way through the tournament and that's that's what they've done to this point then and okay they haven't lived up to that that thrilling period that they played in the second half in these two matches but as Thomas Tuchel I'm sure will say completely different matches and completely different opponents.

3:14Well what will be interesting in the knockout stages Alan is who they come up against who choose to play like Croatia, i.e. go toe-to-toe with them, or who they come up against in the knockout stages and decide to do what Panama or Gama did. Well, if it is going to be D.R. Congo, then I guess they'll play the same as Ghana have and the same as they have today, where it will be defensively, they will try and hit England on the break, and that's when you're more reliant on players producing that piece of magic to get you out of a tricky spot. Positives without doubt today, Kane getting his goal, Bellingham getting his goal and the assist.

3:59I thought Elliot Anderson in midfield was superb. I thought Geahy at times used his pace to great effect when England were in one or two spots of bother. And that would be the thing to work on because the further they go, the better opposition, in particular in forward positions. and if you give the chances, one or two, that they have given today, then you will be punished. But we are looking tough for perfection, aren't we? As we said, the aim was to win the group. The aim today was to win the game and then you can have one or two little pick bits and see what can be improved and that is no doubt what the manager will say.

4:36Scotland are going home. They will be leaving Charlotte where they are, the England players at the moment, currently standing in front of their fans as Wonderwall rings out here and the fans are sending that back to their players as they stand there just looking at the fans up in the stands here at the MetLife Stadium. Matthew Upson with us as well. Your overall thoughts at the end of that? Yeah, I mean, pretty similar to the guys really in the sense that there were moments in the game where it looked a little bit stale, we looked a little bit shaky on the break certainly I thought we had more problems to deal with than obviously in the Ghana game and it stretched us a little bit more but we have one or two players that can produce something Drew Bellingham was outstanding I thought in terms of how he approached the game I think sometimes he gets a little bit kind of too much in terms of wanting it so badly and the frustration creeps out and I saw it in the first half a little bit and then the second just started to be more measured some of the timing of his runs was excellent and the goal and the assist for Harry Kane was just brilliant.

5:48So you rely on those moments a little bit, but doesn't every team? Sooner or later you rely on your star player or your creative players to produce something and England did that in the end after having a big amount of the game and a lot of control of the ball. Wayne Rooney said after the opening goal, Alan, he said if you cross the ball you cause problems. everything from England have been too much in the middle they have been too narrow the issue going forward is how they will break teams down if they don't get the ball out wide and put crosses in well they had the ball out wide in the first half I said it but they cut in didn't they both Saka on the right hand side had too many times and cut in to use the left foot and whip it in Rashford on the left hand side cutting inside for that right foot and that makes it slightly easier for defenders to clear yet you saw balls I think particularly with Bellingham in the way he twisted and turned and then clipped that ball to the far post I think England do look more dangerous when they go on the outside as I said it's a lot more difficult for defenders and easier for forwards because you can make your run once you know that's coming in it's harder to get on an in-swinger from a right foot on the left and vice versa on the right than it is going on the outside and attacking the ball if someone's crossing it with a left from the left or from the right from the right.

7:11And those outside options are then more complicated by the fact he could have lost another right back this afternoon. Yeah, I mean, we're yet to see whether he will regret those decisions. All of a sudden he loses Liberamento, he loses Rhys James, he loses Kwanzaa, who he then brings into play right back. Now he's asked to bring Jed Spence on, he has still got options, he can play Spence, he can play concert in that right-back position and bring John Stones into centre-half, but my concern would be for John if he hasn't played the last two games, is he carrying an injury too? But those are all questions for tomorrow, tonight they've won the group, they've won the game, and hopefully they'll take a bit of belief and confidence from that going forward.

7:59I know it's a question for tomorrow, but can I ask it to Matt as well? well yeah only here because you're a nice guy will allow you that oh thank you thank you very much because because they are the they are the options that are there that alan has has pointed out and maybe they could play this clip out again tomorrow and then it then it feels then it fills a hole for them it fills a hole for them there but you could have you could have construct right but you could bring stones in you never know bearing in mind right at the start we talked about how he maybe would want jed spence to do a certain job on a certain window depending on who they were up against he still may want Jed Spencer's left back at times yeah are you confused Chapa it's all a little bit kind of players in different places and it's not ideal there's no escaping it from my view in that situation with a back four certainly centre back pairing and your full back it's changed every game and I'm not sure you can keep going in this fashion he's going to have to now because he's is plugging holes.

9:02And like you say, it's been unfortunate, a bit of bad luck here and there and those decisions that we're going to see how they play out. But it's not ideal. And I think as you go deeper into the tournament, the uncertainty that we feel, and it is something there when we're watching these games, even though we're doing well and we're churning through the stages of the tournament, there's something there that is a little bit of uncertainty. And the change doesn't help. Sorry, Mike. He's actually searching, isn't he? I feel as if he's searching for the combinations on the right side and the left side.

9:36He's tried Spence and Gordon, that didn't really work. He's tried Maduweki on the right-hand side and that didn't really work. And he's put Saka in again today on the right. And yeah, at times they looked, but it wasn't sparkling. He's put Rashford in one or two times where he looked dangerous, but you think not enough. I mean, ultimately it came from the piece of brilliance from Bellingham with the cross for Kane. Then all of a sudden England could relax in the game and the game was won. So he is searching for combinations in both full-backs and in wide areas to go forward that are going to work.

10:13Do you not think that's a lot of players, Alan, to be searching for mid-tournament? Yeah, absolutely, yeah. You've seen it before. It's not ideal, is it? No, I mean we thought Saka maybe would came in for the last game but he's in for the third game hopefully he'll get better because there's no doubt he's an outstanding player but he's having to work with someone different again in Kwanzaa and then you're switching it around and you're switching 4-5 around in different positions which as you say isn't ideal The Mane set up England's... was it first he scored the first to set up the second here's dude bellingham how do you sum it up uh group one job done today in terms of the win yeah first job achieved you know that we came here um to do it in sections we got through the the pre-camp games really well and now you know we achieved our first objective which was to get through the group and top it as well what was said at half time you're doing well keep going a little bit more another gear nothing nothing um nothing's crazy.

11:18We knew what level we were at. We know what level we want to achieve, and we did it in the second half. The manager says that you'll see a better England in the knockout stage. We'll see. Hopefully. Hopefully. I think every day we've got to try and improve. Every game we've got to improve, and, yeah, it's up to us to do that. What pleased you most today? The goal or the assist? The assist. The assist. I think it was, you know, just a good culmination of play, and, yeah, to give it to Harry again, who just continues to raise his level is incredible. Well, you know that assist also means history.

11:48Harry Kane, now England's record goalscorer at World Cups. It's everything he deserves, you know what I mean? You see the effort that he puts in as a captain, you see how he leads us. His quality speaks for itself. He's the best. I think they're playing your song. I think so. I better go. Well done. Thank you. Jude Bellingham scored the first, set up the second for Harry Kane. As a former England number nine, do you want to give an appreciation of Harry Kane now? He's England's record goalscorer at the World Cup. just incredible, he's a staggering goal scorer the standards that he's set and the standards that he hits week in, week out he's just incredible and deserves everything Those records, he could break for the next few years he isn't going anywhere is he?

12:31No he's not going anywhere, he's coming into this tournament on the back of 61 goals for his club which is just staggering when I first started in the late 80s, early 90s if you got 20 a season that was judged as impressive so these guys now and Harry's one of them are taking goal scorer onto different levels so he's an incredible professional and deserves it all If you were playing now would you get 60 a season? No, I wouldn't I'd get 70 Do you know what? Sometimes I just set them up for you don't I? And then you knock them in Bellingham and Keane there you go you see Thank you Alan see you soon Alan Shearer with us on Five Live, Paul Robinson back with us, former England goalkeeper.

13:20What are your thoughts at the end of it all? It's a job done. I mean, I'm sure that's what you've said. Obviously, I've not been here. I've been away doing the television, but actually it wasn't pretty, and at times it looked like it could end up in a long evening for England, but they got the breakthrough, and then the shackles were off. They were relaxed. They were playing with a lot of pressure, and they were playing against the side who obviously saw what Garner did to England and frustrated England, and the longer the game went the more you worried for England but actually they got the first goal and shooed by the second and at that point that was it, done it, allowed the managers to make the changes I don't think we've learned anything from that today I don't think it was a huge change from the Garner game yes the formation changed but it wasn't a game where you watched it and you thought okay England are going to go all the way through the tournament here they're obviously a work in progress that they're building he used his full squad again but actually the injuries that they've picked up is probably going to be the most talking point and the most worrying thing for Thomas Tuchel Did you, in the first half, did you worry at all about how open they looked at times when out of possession?

14:18Or did you just think, well, that was the way that this team was set up and they won't look that open once they get to the knockouts? But why won't they? I mean, when they play a better team, we saw Panama today. What if he brings Rice in for St. Rogers? If they play in a more defensive role, yeah, obviously, if they've got two holding defensive midfielders. with the one against a team like Panama with no disrespect, they were exposed. That offside decision at the very end was a lot closer than I think we all initially thought it was. They had one or two opportunities. Diaz that came off the bench, he had two chances, put one wide, one over the bar.

14:52The offside decision, and you think if that's an England team playing against a France or a Spain, for example, the defensive frailties may be exposed. But as you quite rightly say, they were playing a much more pragmatic role and being more defensively minded than they were today. They knew today that they had to take the initiative. They had to be the ones on the front foot taking the game to Panama. And that's why at times they will have been exposed. Matt, I mean, do you think those flaws that we saw then will be shored up for, well, it's looking like either Senegal or DR Congo? You would like to hope that it's going to look better and better and start to look a bit more solid.

15:33But there's going to be changes again. you would feel, you know, it depends on how many times can the back four play together because that for me is the only way you get better. And the understanding of full-backs tucking in, narrowing off, who's going to go forwards, when we're going to drop in and the communication between the midfielders as well in all of that picture. Building that into the next stage of the tournament for me is so crucial. I look at all the other teams and those positions, very few of the best teams change those roles at all there might be one or two in this third game or to rest someone or whatever but we've made wholesale changes because because it feels like he's looking at what is my best option we need to get to that quickly and let it play and and keep it going because as the standard goes up it's going to get harder and harder I felt it was tough today because the team were quite unusual weren't they the way they played sat off and then all of and when they went forward, it was bursting forward.

16:32So you're always going to have situations where you're going to have a bit of a race between a centre-back and a forward or a full-back tucking in to win that battle. We got there most of the time. Tight offside, yes, on the goal and it could have gone the other way. But on the whole, we coped with it. It just wasn't a good feeling, was it? And it felt a little bit exposed. Let's hear from Thomas Tuchel then. He's with John Murray. Thomas' first objective achieved What was your message when you spoke to the players? Yes, achieved. We got all our goals, seven points ahead of the group. I know we can all, me included, get carried away with our expectations towards ourselves and how we want to achieve all our goals, but we're not alone on the football page.

17:26We have to just accept and respect the quality on the other side. We found a way to win, we have another deserved win. It is a moment this evening and tonight to enjoy this moment. The next game comes quick and fast, the next preparation and the next expectation from us to win the next knockout round comes by itself. So now is a moment to enjoy it. We want to come back here in three weeks and we need to get better and we need to find another gear and we will. What were the things that you liked today that were more like what you were after? A lot of things I have to say. I think it's more maybe a coach's game to watch from the sideline than a game to enjoy on TV.

18:09I don't know, but I think from the sideline you see the energy that is needed to break a team down like that. the energy that the team brought, invested in runs and in the duels to control the counter-attacks, which was difficult enough. I'm totally happy with that. We had a bit too many ball losses in the first half where we were not careful enough. We need to take care of that because it just leaves us exposed. Our management of these ball losses can be better even at the very end of the match, when we tried to score the third and the fourth one. We left our defenders alone with a lot of space, so we can do better.

18:51But overall, I think it needs a lot to win these matches in this environment. And the positive is clearly there. You saw it in the end, the connection with the fans. Everyone is happy. Is there anything else eating away at you, niggling away at you? Another injury right back? Yeah, hopefully. Maybe for sure another injury. Let's see how long this takes. It's very painful at the moment, he twisted his ankle. That would be a bit annoying, I have to say, like the third right defender, but we will find a solution. We still have Chad and Esri Konza who can play there. Take it day by day. I'm at the moment positive because we still have stuff to improve and we will, but I still I feel on the sideline that things are clicking and we are understanding our rhythm a bit better and Kaio is back on the pitch from the start and a lot of players have now minutes.

19:50I think we are in a place to have the right to stay positive and believe in ourselves. Satisfied but not overjoyed, is that how you would describe that, Paul Robinson? him? Grumpy he wasn't happy I think he came across how you would expect him to come across but there was times in that game where you look at the TV monitors that we've got in front of him and the shot cuts down to the bench and you see Thomas Tuchel and you see his reaction in discussion with his coaches, with his assistant manager and there was times in that game where he was clearly frustrated, particularly the disallowed goal for Panama, the offside the defending at times frustrated him, you could see him watching down on the touchline how animated he is.

20:34He doesn't hide disappointment very well, Thomas Tuchel. I don't think he did in that interview, in all honesty. And I think when you listen to him, you can tell that he's frustrated. It's still work in progress. There's players there that he's lost through injury, and he knows that. And he knows all what Alan and Matt were talking about, the combinations down the right, the combinations down the left. He's not quite got to where he wants to get to, and he's losing players quicker than he can find answers. Yeah, I think it's interesting looking back and how we want England to be more attacking.

21:02But sometimes to be more attacking doesn't mean you've got more attacking players on the field. And I think this was a game that kind of highlighted that a little bit in the sense of crowding of the space and also the defensive security that you have with the two. While we are in control of the game, there's those key moments where you look a little bit loose or there's not enough pressure on the ball. So then all of a sudden the break happens. So I think it's interesting to know which way you go on that. and he had to choose a way and he went with the more attacking, which we all liked and agreed before the game.

21:36And it'd been interesting to see, had it gone the other way, how England would have played and whether the result would have been different. We would have looked more secure and had a more kind of assured performance, which we're all searching for. We're all searching for this performance that gives us loads of confidence going into the knockout phase. But I don't think we're obviously clearly not going to get that. So you've got to put it together, do the best you can, like Thomas Tuchel's saying. I think there's a lot to look at for him. And it's going to be interesting to see. You know, there's going to be a lot of talk around his team selection into every game, isn't there?

22:09And that's what happens. You then kind of have that scrutiny as to, OK, how are you going to tweak this game? I'm just going to jump in, Mark. I'm going to go down to the tunnel area because Marcus Rashford is live with John Murray. Yes, thank you, Mark. Marcus Rashford in front of us. Job done, Marcus. Yeah, exactly. No, it's just about recovery and try to go again. So, yeah, you know, we expect to be in this position. We work all season together to be here. So, yeah, we're happy that we managed to get the job done and this little chapter's done now and we can move on and keep improving because I think we're doing well, but we've got so much to improve on and so much that we're capable of doing.

22:49So, for me, it's the perfect position to be in as a team. You know, we're ready to kick on and do more. And after the real highs of the way that you played in that first match, this has turned out to be a really tough group, hasn't it? It was always going to be a tough group. There's really physical teams in the last two games that we've played and in Croatia you can't give them a minute on the ball because the quality of the passing is just so high. So different games, but equally as tough. But it doesn't matter, we have to try and do whatever the game requires to try to win and yeah we managed to do that today.

23:29Do you think there's much more to come? Yeah yeah for sure, for sure. I don't think anyone's really playing at the peak level that we've seen them play at throughout the season but this is a good problem to have because we've got as individuals, as a team we've got strides to take and you never want your best performances to be in the group stage anyway. You want to build into the tournament, grow and now we want to really kick on and go full throttle against teams and just try and punish them at every opportunity. You know you've been involved in them. It's a different ball game from this point on, isn't it?

24:03But it seems most likely DR Congo or Senegal in the round of 32 could be a similar kind of challenge to what the last games have been. Yeah, for sure. Listen, there's no easy games in World Cups to the occasion, so big. I just don't think there's any easy games. and we've had tournaments before where we've beat teams 4-0, 5-0, 6-0. But it's not easy. We have to do what we're good at really well to get these goals. So I think in the second half it was better. In the end, we were disappointed to only score two goals, but this is football. So it took good patience and mentality to not get too frustrated after half-time.

24:43We came out and tried to do the same things and we managed to get the goals. Just finally, obviously you're back in the starting line-up, starting out at the World Cup, that's what you wanted to be. How are you liking your own form? How are you feeling? You know, it's difficult to be at peak when you're not playing so much. And yeah, the last couple of months for me, I've not been playing that much football. So it's good. I enjoy the moments when I'm on the pitch. But like everyone else, I just want to try to do the best I can do on the pitch and help the team to win. Well done, Marcus. Thanks very much.

25:15Thank you. What would you say, Matt? He carried a threat in Marcus Rashford, but maybe the end product wasn't quite there. I think it was a bit hit and miss, wasn't it? We saw some good end product and then we saw some not so good, a couple of loose touches, passes. And I think he alluded to it there. He's probably not in his peak form. But as we've seen in a Barcelona shirt, still capable of producing absolute wow moments. and I thought he brought some energy inside. When he comes in the pitch, he can just do something really special. Five Lights for... My favourite World Cup moment? It's the first World Cup I properly remember watching.

25:59Argentina 78. The ticker tape, Mario Kempes, Ari Hahn scoring goals from miles out and always one of my favourite World Cup moments, Archie Gemmels' great goal for Scotland against the Dutch. What makes the World Cup such a special tournament is the atmosphere, the colour. It is a meeting of the nations and of people who love football. The People World Cup 2026. Listen on BBC Sounds.

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27:11Let's travel journalists sort out what's worth paying for, from lounge access to travel advisors to hotel loyalty programmes. Make your travel dollars work harder. Follow Smart Travel on your favourite podcast app. The Football Day at the People World Cup 2026. With Matt Kaplan. Listen on BBC Sounds. OK, we'll get the view from the other end of the pitch for England now. Here's Esri Konza again with John. Yes, here he is, Esri Konza. Another tough match, you knew it was going to be. Yeah, of course. They're all tough matches. Every team in this tournament deserves to be here. They're all good teams.

27:53We know not every game is going to be as easy as we want it to be. But today the main thing for us was to get the win, which we did top the group. And for me to keep another clean sheet was another positive. Was there a bit of anxiety in the performance when that opening goal didn't come? I know that you've all achieved what you've achieved, but you are human. No, of course. I don't think there was any anxiety. We all kept our cool. We knew if we kept doing what we were going to do, that we were going to create chances no matter what. I think everyone knows the qualities that we have in this team are attacking threats.

28:31You know, if you give them a yard or you give them time to do what they're going to do, we're going to create chances and score goals and that's what we did today and yeah really pleased. It helps when you've got people like Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane in the team doesn't it? Yeah everyone knows their qualities, top top players, they bring a lot for us, leaders on the pitch and yeah really pleased for both of them and long may that continue. Yeah and how are you enjoying it you know being a starter in England's World Cup team? yeah look yeah surreal dream come true for me it's a tournament I've always wanted to play since I was a kid and to play three games in a row 90 minutes yeah I just want to keep going keep up my standards and keep improving yeah but as the manager says it's a new tournament starts now exactly we're going to Wednesday now full of confidence positive I'm not sure who we're going to play but I know we'll be ready thanks Esri well done today thank you Esri Konza Mark thank you very much Thank you, John.

29:32We'll keep getting reaction from the tunnel. The clean sheet is a positive, isn't it? Yeah, I think so. I think that's one thing that he will look at. But it was a dicey clean sheet at times, if you like. You look at the times that England were picked apart. Obviously, we keep going back to the offside goal that was disallowed. It was a wonderful finish. But there were one or two occasions where a Panama side, that you would not expect to get in behind the England defence as easy as they did. But we say that, but that's the way that England were playing. they were pushing forward they left the gaps there for Panama to expose defensively I've said from the start of the tournament England have looked susceptible you know he's not decided on his full backs his central defensive partnership is going to change I think it's John Stones plus one other if he's fit and that's who he wants to play I think six months ago we all thought it was going to be Mark Gay plus A another but those defensive worries and the selection problems that he's got may be an Achilles heel for England If I asked you to name the starting 11 for the last 32 do you think the only ones that you could guarantee would be Pickford, Anderson, Rice, Bellingham and Kane?

30:38Yeah, absolutely. I think that's the spine. Can we make that a question for tomorrow, Chappers? What, are you tired? Are you going to bed? No, it's just, honestly, at this moment in time, I don't really know. There are certain players that you know are playing at the moment, Like you just mentioned, Kane, Bellingham, Rice, Anderson, Pickford. You then look at, for me, Gehe, I think, has to play. And then it's about fitness and things we might know or might not know. John Stone's quite right. Not too sure if Rhys James is going to get fit. I think there's so many questions. The high wide areas, there's so much to choose from with Saka and Rashford and Gordon.