With less than 30 minutes left here in New Jersey, England were second in Group L. Fans were looking up flights to Toronto. England had not scored a goal for 10 days, or more pertinently, for 157 minutes of football, not including added time.It was all starting to feel a bit Euro 2016. 10 years ago, England had four points from their first two games. Roy Hodgson decided to make six changes for the third game against Slovakia, hoping to spark an improvement. England were unwatchable, drew 0-0, and then Iceland happened one week after. We could all see the outline of the iceberg on the horizon.Bukayo Saka had a corner from the left. He had struggled all afternoon, barely able to beat his opponent, and it was the delivery of a tired man, too flat, too low even for Jose Fajardo or Andres Andrade to head away. Jorge Gutierrez had both arms securely wrapped around Bellingham, and it looked like England were going nowhere. But Bellingham, facing back towards Saka, used Gutierrez as a crutch, holding firm, extending his left leg far enough to divert the ball bouncing into the bottom corner. It was in the net before anyone else had caught on.Three minutes later, Bellingham was released down the left wing. He shifted back onto his right foot, feinted to cross, dummied and went back the other way. Fidel Escobar was left rooted, Bellingham was free, and with his left boot, he curled a cross, perfect for Kane to get in front of Andrade and head in.Bellingham celebrates his opening goal for England (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)That was all it took for England to win this tight, tense, difficult game. They had not played especially well up to that point, and did not play too well after it either.For all that Tuchel had spoken about the importance of breaking down well-organised defences, finding crucial overloads, the sum total of England’s play in the first half had been knocking the ball down the line to Marcus Rashford and hoping for the best. Kane, for the second game in a row, had struggled to find the room to make an impact. With Declan Rice rested, the team looked unbalanced, and Panama found it far too easy to find space.
Jude Bellingham can be England’s moments player at a World Cup defined by them
Jude Bellingham scored and provided an assist to help England beat Panama on Sunday night










