England have advanced to the World Cup’s last 16 with a dominant 3-0 victory over Wales, sending their neighbours out of the tournament in the process.
Marcus Rashford’s second-half brace at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium on Tuesday evening guaranteed Gareth Southgate’s side will face Senegal in the knockout phase on Sunday.
Rashford’s goals came either side of a Phil Foden tap-in engineered by England captain Harry Kane, who is still yet to score in Qatar but now leads the tournament’s assists chart on three.
Wales, who needed an unlikely four-goal victory in a fixture they had not won since 1984 to reach the knockout rounds, defended deeply and frustrated England in a subdued first half.
But they caved in after the break as Gareth Southgate’s side took their goals tally in the group to nine.
Rashford began the rout when he smashed home a free kick five minutes after the break.
A minute later Foden, one of four changes Southgate made to his starting lineup from the previous game against the USA, converted from close range after a fine low cross from Kane.
Wales, whose talisman Gareth Bale was substituted at halftime having made no impact, looked crestfallen as their first World Cup for 64 years fizzled out.
England continued to dish out the punishment though and Rashford made it 3-0 with a surging run in from the right before shooting through a crowd and past goalkeeper Danny Ward legs in the 68th minute.
Rashford, whose place in the squad was uncertain a few months ago after he struggled with form and injuries, is now the joint-top scorer at the World Cup with three goals in the tournament so far.
Elsewhere in Group B, the USA beat Iran 1-0 on Tuesday night to secure second place and set up a last-16 clash with the Netherlands on Saturday.
