England 6-1 Panama: 3 things we learned

England beat Panama 6-1 to secure the most convincing win in their history at a World Cup finals. Here are three things we learned from the match.

Almost two years to the day since their humiliating loss to Iceland at Euro 2016, a magnificent England display secured their biggest-ever victory at a major tournament. Here’s what the game taught us.

The numbers don’t lie

Going into the match, the top-line statistics – xG, shots on target and cautions received – all correctly indicated that lots of England goals and plenty of Panamanian fouls were in the cards.

Although England had only secured victory over Tunisia via a dramatic injury-time winner, in xG terms their attacking performance that day was the best by any side in the first round of group-stage games.

Only woeful finishing and questionable officiating prevented the scoreline from bring as emphatic as Belgium’s 5-2 victory over Tunisia Saturday.

In stark contrast, only Saudi Arabia’s lamentable performance against Russia had offered less attacking threat than Panama had shown when playing Belgium. It took Panama 53 minutes to register a shot on target in that game and they had to wait even longer for one today.

In fact, it looked for a while that the record World Cup defeat – which involved another Central American side, El Salvador, losing 10-1 to Hungary back in 1982 – might be bettered/worsened.

Moreover, after his old team had scored from two corners against Tunisia, former England manager Steve McLaren had claimed before the game that England could win this World Cup on set-pieces alone. And on this evidence, he might just be right.

Another corner, two unstoppable penalties from Harry Kane and a masterfully executed 40th-minute free-kick routine all produced goals today. So far, only two of England’s eight goals have come from open play.

The other stats that stood out going into this match were the five yellow cards that Panama had picked up inside the first hour against Belgium. That was two more than any other side managed over the whole 90 minutes in the first round of group games.

Panama ended Sunday’s game at the top of the tournament’s cards table, which leads us conveniently on to the next point.

Panama’s exit will be largely unmourned

Central American sides have developed a reputation for being somewhat pragmatic in their approach and this Panama team seemed as determined to conform to national stereotypes on the pitch as their exuberant fans were off it.

Although it counted for nothing in the end, during the first half in particular Panama missed few opportunities to try to initiate confrontations off the ball, exaggerate the slightest contact when in possession and drag their heels during any break in play, all in an effort to disrupt the game’s rhythm.

The Panamanians’ cynicism perhaps reached its nadir when England were awarded their first penalty. After delaying England from taking the spot-kick for a couple of minutes, the Panama players then had the temerity to complain that the England celebrations were taking too long.

Panama’s approach to defending set-pieces would almost certainly have been penalized even in the NFL.

There’s every chance that the Egyptian referee Ghead Grisha would have awarded a penalty to England in the eighth minute had John Stones not scored from the corner and rendered the question moot.

Grisha definitely had little hesitation in giving England a penalty later in the half when no fewer than three Panama players wrestled their opponents to the ground as another corner came in.

Panama’s attitude was embodied by their captain, Seattle’s Ramon Torres. While the chances of him ever realizing his dream of playing for an English club seem more remote than ever, judging by his antics Sunday, a transition into the WWE appears to be a strong possibility.

Torres spent the entire game shouting at anyone he could – the referee, England’s players and eventually even himself after he missed a good chance late in the second-half.

While some allowances should perhaps be made for Panama given that this is the team’s first World Cup, it should be noted that fellow debutants Iceland have managed to achieve much more while employing far fewer of the sport’s dark arts.

Panama also demonstrated that ostentatious displays of patriotic fervour are not necessarily an indication of sporting ability.

The gusto with which the Panamanian players sang their national anthem was reminiscent of the 2014 Brazilian side, who were the last team to concede five goals in a single half at a World Cup finals.

England fans might have to find something new to complain about

Much of the pre-game build-up had focused on whether Raheem Sterling or Marcus Rashford should start for England. This was understandable, as Sterling had failed to score in 21 international matches over a period of two-and-a-half years going into this match.

Sterling’s performance Sunday was solid rather than spectacular, with his most notable contribution probably being the lay-off to set up Lingard’s magnificent goal.

But manager Gareth Southgate is all about his team’s collective efforts and there’s no denying that Sterling has now been part of two England performances in which they’ve outclassed the opposition for long periods of the game.

With regards to the debate over Jordan Henderson or Eric Dier being selected for the midfield anchor role, England supporters finally seemed to have stopped complaining about Henderson following his impressive display against Tunisia, although that was perhaps because they were too busy complaining about Sterling.

Next: England survives Tunisia: What we learned from the match

The other big recent talking point had been Jesse Lingard’s wastefulness in front of goal, after he missed four good chances in the Tunisia game. That was surely laid to rest by Lingard’s exquisite 25-yard goal late in the first-half.