World Cup News: England Thrash Panama with a Stunning 6-1 Result

The Three Lions have outclassed Panama with a remarkable performance that saw them score 6 goals with Harry Kane netting a hat-trick himself in the process, according to online sportsbook news.

England boss is full of praise for his striker

Kane has managed to convert two penalties – both in the top-left corner – and another goal is credited to him, despite the ball seemingly being deflected off his boots. Nonetheless, besides his goals his performance throughout the match was brilliant in every regard; the striker was involved in every play making himself indispensable to the team.

The Tottenham man now has 5 goals to his name in 2 appearances for England, which puts in in serious contention for the Golden Boot of the tournament; considering his goalscoring prowess he has serious chances to win it. England manager Gareth Southgate lavished praise on the 24-year-old, describing him as the ideal No. 9 and that he wouldn’t trade Kane for anyone else in his position.

“He’s there, he’s up at the top,” said Southgate. “We wouldn’t swap him for anyone at the tournament in terms of No. 9s. We know that when he gets opportunities he’s going to bury them, you sit there very confident in his ability to take chances.”

“But as important in that is the way he sacrifices himself for the team, the way he presses, holds the ball up and contributes to the overall game. He’s not a player who just stands up front and takes chances. That’s important in the ethic of the team we’re trying to create.”

England’s performance against Panama don’t please Southgate

Despite going 5-0 up already in the first half, Southgate stressed that actually wasn’t pleased with his side’s display in the match, especially in the beginning as they had to adjust to Panama’s 6-3-1 formation that caused them problems, per online sportsbooks in United Kingdom.

“Today I didn’t particularly like the first 10 minutes of the game. Understandably we were a little bi edgy, with Panama setting up 6-3-1. Once we worked it out there was some likely bits of play in the first half.”

The Panama side weren’t a match for the Three Lions, although they managed to find the back of the net once in the second half of the game. But even with that mind, Southgate thinks his side played better against Tunisia a few days ago which saw them win 2-1.

“I think we probably at times played better the other night than we did today, but today we were more ruthless in front of goal,” said the 47-year-old manager.

England are now top of Group G with 6 points – with Belgium level with 6 points as well – which means they’ve qualified for the knockout phase of the 2018 World Cup. So now it remains to be seen whether Southgate will decide to rest most of his squad for the final game and give the backup players some playing time, or whether he’ll go all out and field Kane to potentially increase his goalscoring tally.

Bet365 Sportsbook is offering odds of 2.75 (7/4) for England to eliminated in the last 16 of the tournament, but if you’re confident Southgate’s men can make it further then you might considering placing a wager on them being knocked out in the quarter-finals 2.87 (15/8), or even the semi-finals 5.50 (9/2). Although the odds are unlikely, the chances for runner-up are 9.00 (8/1) and outright winners of the 2018 World Cup are 11.00 (10/1).

(Check out Bet365 Sportsbook review for more info about the online sportsbook.)