Playing through injury at the World Cup, Bukayo Saka made his first start of the tournament against Panama, but both his on-pitch performance and his usual presence seemed off. Former internationals and pundits have voiced concern about the state of this key England winger. How Thomas Tuchel uses him in the knockout stages will be a crucial factor in how far the Three Lions can go.
England beat Panama 2-0 thanks to a goal from Bellingham, narrowly clinching top spot in their World Cup group. Rashford and Saka have improved since returning to the lineup, but the team as a whole still falls short of their peak form. They will face DR Congo in the round of 16.
England beat Panama 2-0 in their World Cup group-stage match to clinch top spot, but former Premier League striker Denney sharply criticized Saka, Rashford, and Madueke using ball-loss data, calling out the wingers' arrogance and poor decision-making on the international stage.
In World Cup group play, England drew with Ghana after a convincing opening win over Croatia and were still goalless at half-time against Panama. Neville, Keane and Shearer all criticised a lack of attacking creativity, while assistant coach Barry pointed to an intense opening spell that led to more errors and greater counterattack risk.
Ghana first-choice left-back Mensah talked tough ahead of kickoff, saying he is looking forward to going head-to-head with England's two premier wing threats in their World Cup group-stage clash, with the Black Stars riding the confidence of an opening win.
England followed up their win over Costa Rica by beating Croatia during World Cup week, with Tuchel's side surging in the second half to send a strong message to their title rivals.
A French legend has publicly questioned Saka's form, but his big-tournament pedigree and standout performances in May still leave the race for a Three Lions starting role wide open.
Arsenal's twin pillars spoke ahead of the match, saying their Premier League title has silenced outside doubts, and the entire squad will take on Paris Saint-Germain with making history as their sole motivation.
Saka scored as the Gunners won 1-0 at home to seal a 2-1 aggregate victory and advance to the Champions League final; Simeone accepted defeat as refereeing controversy and scrutiny of the competition format continued to intensify.
Lineker said Zubimendi tends to play on the cautious side; with Lewis-Skelly in his place, the Gunners won 3-0 at Fulham and looked sharper in attack.
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