England player ratings vs Panama: Who inspired victory in nervy World Cup Group L finale?

England ensured they head into the World Cup knockout stages as Group L winners as Jude Bellingham inspired victory against Panama.

Needing a win emerge as group winners ahead of Croatia or Ghana, England failed to break the deadlock before half-time with Marcus Rashford the only major threat to Panama’s defence, who were successfully marking Harry Kane out of the game to that point.

But with the clock ticking and results not going their way elsewhere, Bellingham stepped up to the plate and delivered England’s all-important opener on 62 minutes, firing in on the volley from Bukayo Saka‘s corner.

Bellingham then turned provider five minutes as he found Kane with the cross, who headed back across goal to double England’s lead and surpass Gary Lineker as the country’s all-time World Cup scorer.

Here’s how the England players rated after their 2-0 win against Panama:

Came out to punch Michael Amir Murillo‘s cross with conviction after a quiet opening quarter for the English keeper, but was alert to make a smart save when Panama burst forward down the left, denying Jose Luis Rodriguez at his near post. The odd questionable clearance but cleaned up when required. Had his clean sheet saved by the offside flag.

Starting at right-back in place of the injured Reece James, you could tell it wasn’t his preferred role. Quansah was often caught out of position which invited Panama to target his channel, something that nearly brought about a shock opener for the Canal Men when Rodriguez was played into acres of space that the Bayer Leverkusen defender should have been covering. He later went over on his ankle to worsen Tuchel’s injury headache at right-back. Booked and subbed.

Another culprit of England’s defensive struggles on the right side, Konsa didn’t inspire much confidence when Panama came on the counter, often requiring his team-mates to bail him out. He got a big telling off from Rashford for failing to close Rodriguez down when he was bearing down on the England box, which allowed him to fire a curling effort dangerously close to the top right corner.

Put in an important recovery challenge inside the first 15 minutes after Panama went on the break, which saw Jose Luis Rodriguez get one-on-one with his defensive colleague. Just about caught Jose Fajardo offside which denied Panama a famous goal. The more assured of England’s centre-back partnership.

An outlet going forward as he so often is, O’Reilly caused his usual danger with late runs into the box, with one flicked header forcing Panama keeper Orlando Mosquera to scamper across. He’s susceptible to a shaky moment at the back, though, not tracking his runner in the box that allowed Panama to get one of their few shots at Pickford’s goal. Fortunately for him, it was scuffed.

Used possession well and contributed in the attacking phases but found himself overrun on occasion by the Panama counter, being played through a bit too easily in the middle of the park. Had a moment to forget when he dispossessed in his own half soon after the break, which Panama very nearly scored from. Stepped into the role of England corner-taker in Declan Rice‘s stead and did well for himself – his crossing in general was on point.

In the thick of the action right from the outset, always trying to move England forward while also showing an immediate burning desire to regain possession whenever the ball was lost. Found joy linking up with the wide men and was the focal point of England’s attacking moves. It was therefore little surprise to see him get England’s all-important opener, smartly tucking home on the volley from Saka’s corner, before adding an assist five minutes later. Subbed.

Darted into the box for one of England’s first half-chances, receiving the ball with his back to goal before laying it off nicely for Saka, who was then tackled before he could get a shot away. Other than that, however, he was pretty anonymous. A very loose, nervy pass to nobody which killed a promising move at the beginning of the second half summed up his game, and he was slow to react in his own box when a loose ball invited a Panama shot.

A bundle of energy on his long-awaited first World Cup 2026 start but his final product in open play wasn’t always there, with crosses and shots often blocked before they could really threaten Mosquera’s goal. From the dead ball, however, he came good – whipping in the corner for Bellingham’s opener. Subbed.

Marked out of the game during the first half and was limited to a handful of touches, one of which saw him blast the ball against a Panama body in the box and appeal for a penalty, to no avail. But after England finally breached Panama’s defences, Kane finally got some freedom and it wasn’t long until he got on the scoresheet, rising high to head home Bellingham’s dinked cross. That made him England’s all-time World Cup record goalscorer – we’ll remember that moment rather than the wider performance that surrounded it. Subbed.

Solved the issue of passiveness on the left wing after two pretty ineffective performances from Anthony Gordon. He started really brightly, forcing the Panama goalkeeper into his first save of the day with a venomous shot from outside, and was a primary attacking threat from then on, always willing to drive at his man and make himself a target. Peppered the Panama box with threatening crosses and was unlucky not to bag an assist with one delectable delivery to Kane. The only thing missing was a goal, which he should’ve got late on when found at the back post by Madueke but fluffed his shot.

Djed Spence (Quansah, 60′) – 6: A bit of a shaky start as Ismael Diaz made quite easy work of losing him as his marker, getting a decent header on goal as a result. Later did well to clear after some head tennis between the two teams in the box. Scuffed a cross out for a goal kick down the right.

Noni Madueke (Saka, 63′) – 7: Not afraid to drive at his man and get to the byline, delivering one nice dinked cross that just didn’t have anyone to meet it. Could’ve snatched an assist with a lovely deep cross to Rashford, but the winger fluffed his lines. Denied a late goal by heroics by Mosquera, too.

Eberechi Eze (Bellingham, 71′) – 6: Got in the way of fellow sub Spence when he was lining up to shoot, but kept things ticking. Saw a deflected effort curl painfully wide in stoppage time.

Ollie Watkins (Kane, 84′): Minutes in the tank for Kane’s understudy.

Jordan Henderson (Anderson, 84′): A historic cameo for the 36-year-old, becoming the first England player to play at seven international tournaments.