Now things will get interesting
England captain Harry Kane scored his first goal of this year’s World Cup, helping his team beat Senegal 3-0 yesterday and setting up a match against France in the quarter-finals.
Kane scored for the 52nd time for his country to move within one of Wayne Rooney’s England record. He also overtook Gary Lineker as his country’s leading scorer in major tournaments with 11 goals.
“The ball just sat up nicely and the connection was perfect,” Kane said. “I had one just before that I should have done better with so it was nice to see that one go in.”
Jordan Henderson and Bukayo Saka also scored at Al Bayt Stadium while Jude Bellingham played a key role in the opening two goals and Phil Foden had two assists.
England, who reached the semifinals at the last World Cup in Russia, will face defending champions France at Al Bayt Stadium on Sunday.
“We enjoyed this one, but of course our focus turns straight to that,” Kane said. “It’s going to be a really tough game. They’re reigning champions but it’ll be a good battle.”
The must-see contest will feature the tournament’s leading scorer in Kylian Mbappe and one of its standout players in Bellingham.
Mbappe scored twice against Poland in a 3-1 victory to take his total at this year’s World Cup to five goals.
Bellingham only has the one he scored in England’s opening 6-2 rout of Iran, but his game is about so much more.
“Goodness me, @Bellinghamjude is unbelievably good. He’s the leader in this team. His parents must be so proud. Love him,” Lineker wrote on Twitter after the Borussia Dortmund midfielder crossed for Henderson to score the first goal in the 38th minute.
Up to then, Senegal had been creating the more dangerous chances. Ismaila Sarr sent a shot over from close range and then England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford had to throw out an arm to block another effort from Boulaye Dia.
All that without the team’s player, Sadio Mane, who was ruled out of the tournament with an injury before play even started in Qatar.
Everything changed once Bellingham seized control, charging into the box before setting up Henderson. In first-half stoppage time, he went on another unstoppable run, carrying the ball from just outside England’s box and deep into Senegal’s half. Foden then played in Kane to double England’s lead.
With the 1966 World Cup champions well on their way to a showdown with France, Saka scored in the 57th minute by converting Foden’s cross.
■ Robert Lewandowski cradled the neck of Kylian Mbappe´ , whose face was bowed as if to let the Poland veteran kiss the top of his head. It was a fatherly gesture from the 34-year-old Fifa world player of the year to the 23-yearold France superstar who is now on the fast track to winning the next award.
Lewandowski smiled when approaching Mbappe´ after the final whistle yesterday, embracing him with a warm hug even though the young man’s two goals had helped end his World Cup in a 3-1 loss that sent France to the quarter-finals.
Several minutes later, Lewandowski lingered as the last player left on the field, applauding Poland fans in the corner and the team’s families and friends in the main stand.
It sure looked like a slow walk away from a last World Cup for Lewandowski, who will be two months short of his 38th birthday when the 2026 tournament starts in North America.
“Physically I’m not afraid about this,” Lewandowski said about staying in top shape until 2026, “but you have so many different things outside football that decide that your happiness is still there.”
If this was a farewell, then his final act on the World Cup stage was truly curious for a man admired for playing and respecting the game the right way.
Lewandowski converted a penalty kick in the ninth minute of stoppage time — as close to garbage time as it gets at soccer’s biggest event — but he infuriated the French fans at the fastemptying Al Thumama Stadium by the manner in which he took it.
Trailing 3-0 and stepping up to the spot for essentially the last kick of the match, Lewandowski indulged in a stop-start, stutterstep run to trick France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris into moving too soon. The veteran keeper was a full step off his line when he saved a weak kick as Lewandowski turned away, hands on hips.
The referee, however, ordered a re-take because Lloris moved too far away from the line, and Lewandowski stuttered toward the ball again.
Lloris dived left, but this time the ball nestled in the other corner of the net. —AP