Panama 0-2 England: Bellingham inspires Three Lions to win Group L

The stadium announcer plays “Football’s Coming Home!” and the England fans join in, obviously.

They then belt out “Wonderwall” by Oasis.

It is party time for England, as their team eventually broke through and never looked back.

Thomas Tuchel’s side have had their ups and downs in the group stage, but they won it and now have a favorable route in the knockout rounds.

It was far from perfect but it’s England’s fans who are celebrating in New Jersey.

Jude Bellingham has taken over this game and he does some splendid work on the left, then crosses for Kane to head home from close range.

They celebrate together with Kane’s trademark celebration and now it is all smiles for England.

Thanks mostly to Bellingham’s magic and turning up in a big moment for England once again.

England are finally ahead, as a corner from the left is whipped in by Bukayo Saka and Jude Bellingham sticks his leg out and flicks home.

That is a really impressive finish as Bellingham was being held by his defender but always kept his eye on the ball to flick home while he stayed strong to hold off the Panamanian defender.

Relief for Bellingham and everyone connected with England.

England are caught on the counter and Jose Luiz Rodriguez curls just wide of the far post.

That was a decent effort and had Pickford scrambling.

The game is opening up now.

Harry Kane is played in and smashes across goal but the goalkeeper saves well.

The game is really opening up now but England are still picking the wrong options.

England have to do something different here to try and create panic for Panama.

Ollie Watkins coming on to partner Harry Kane could work?

At the moment it’s very easy for Panama to stop England’s threat.

They know the ball is going to go wide to Rashford and Saka, and they have extra defenders back there to double up on them.

Bringing on Watkins would give Panama an extra player to worry about centrally and he loves to run the channels.

England have gone close on a few occasions with Rashford and Saka both getting shots on target, and Rashford whipping a free kick just wide before half time, but this has been quite lackluster from Thomas Tuchel’s side considering the attacking players out there.

They’ve also looked pretty dodgy at the back with Panama going clear on a couple of counters and Jordan Pickford had to make a big save at his near post from Jose Luiz Rodriguez.

With Croatia winning 1-0 against Ghana in the other Group L game, as it stands England will finish as runners up and are heading to Toronto for their Round of 32 game and could face Portugal.

Tuchel will be contemplating half time changes with Eze, Gordon, Madueke and Watkins the obvious options.

Something has to change here. England look so sluggish and predictable and this is very similar to their performance against Ghana.

Also, hats off to Panama. They are already out but they’re defending resolutely and looking dangerous on the counter. Their fans are loving it.

Bukayo Saka goes down in the box after lovely play from Morgan Rogers with a flick to play him in.

No penalty kick is given, and Saka isn’t happy.

Moments later a cross is whipped in to the back post and Rashford heads over from close range under pressure.

Then in the next attack Rashford whips in a cross and Kane just can’t get a head on it at the near post as Panama somehow clear.

This is better from England, but they’ve still been pretty poor and this is all very similar to the game against Ghana.

England are caught on the counter with Tomas Rodriguez finding Jose Luiz Rodriguez on the inside left channel.

Rodriguez drills a low shot on goal which Jordan Pickford gets down well to save.

That is exactly what England will be worried about the longer this stays 0-0.

Panama are buoyed by that chance and are very comfortable playing 5-4-1 and springing counters.

England are pushing hard for the opener and keep on swarming around Panama every time they don’t have the ball.

Both Saka and Rashford are seeing plenty of the ball out wide and are cutting in, but their final shot or cross has just been off.

Saka in particular has hit some pretty tame crosses and a couple of weak shots into the near post.

Still, the energy and intensity is so much better from England compared to the game against Ghana in Boston on Tuesday.

Lovely play from Jude Bellingham to win a free kick, and England then build an attack down the left.

Marcus Rashford cuts inside and his low shot is on target but Mosquera pushes it away well for a corner.

Saka ends up hacking the corner over as Mosquera gets a good hand on it. It feels like the Panama goalkeeper is going to be very busy today and he’s made a good start.

There have already been a few loose passes and slips and the rain is really coming down out there.

Very slick conditions and there are a lot of ponchos being worn in the stands.

England are on top now and pushing hard for the opener.

Well, that was direct and Panama got a shot on target inside the first 15 seconds.

A long ball up is challenged by Tomas Rodriguez and the ball drops down kindly to him.

His shot is on target but Pickford gets down and saves well.

That will give Panama plenty of confidence in these testing conditions.

The England fans are flooding into the stadium here in New Jersey and it is a sea of red and white.

Because, well, both England and Panama play in the same colors. England will be wearing their away red kits tonight, so there is an extra pop of color.

Great atmosphere building here and lots of excitement.

As always, they will be organized and look to spring counters.

It is going to take some effort from Panama to get something today, but they’ve been in both games so far and continue to punch above their weight.

England’s starting lineup is in and Tuchel has changed the attack. And it looks superb.

Rashford, Bellingham, Rogers, Saka and Kane start in attack.

This should be a really fun game with England going all-out for the win and Panama have nothing to lose.

Expect goals galore.

How to watch Panama vs England live, stream link and start time

Kick off time: 5pm ET Saturday (June 27)
Venue: MetLife Stadium — New Jersey/New York
TV Channel: Telemundo
Streaming: Stream live on Peacock, en Espanol

Tuesday’s 0-0 draw with Ghana in Boston wasn’t good enough from an England perspective and even though they are in the knockout rounds Thomas Tuchel and England’s fans are demanding more.

There is no drama. England came up against a solid Ghana side and missed some big chances.

But we should expect to see a reaction from England, and possibly heavy rotation, for this game.

The likes of Marcus Rashford, Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins could play a big part, while Bukayo Saka getting even more minutes will be crucial.

England’s fans expect a big win to give them confidence heading into the knockout rounds.