In Russia England negotiated group games against Tunisia (ranked 21st in the world) and Panama (55th), but their first meeting against one of the tournament favourites ended in defeat, albeit they and Belgium made a combined 17 changes for a game with little at stake. The easy side of the draw? As they prepared for their final Group G game against Belgium, England knew the teams they could face if they progressed through the knockout rounds.Įngland are not the first team in World Cup history to have had an unusually attractive route through the tournament - in 2002 Germany made it to the final after facing Paraguay, the United States and South Korea in the knockout stages. England ranked 16th of the 32 sides when it came to dribbles, with a relatively low 55.05% success rate. They worked tirelessly, but it is debatable whether they had the attacking impact that might have been expected. To overcome the absence of such a player in midfield, Southgate utilised the energy and running power of Jesse Lingard and Dele Alli as part of a midfield three. Was that down to service? England's lack of a world-class creative player - the other semi-finalists had the likes of Luka Modric, Ivan Rakitic, Kevin de Bruyne, Eden Hazard, Paul Pogba and Antoine Griezmann - had been highlighted as a potential weakness before the tournament, and that concern seemed to be borne out in Russia. After his two close-range finishes against Tunisia, his remaining four goals included three penalties and one fortunate deflection from a Ruben Loftus-Cheek shot for his hat-trick against Panama.Īnd he had only one shot on target in the knockout stages, his penalty goal against Colombia in the last 16. In fact, three of England's six goalscorers in Russia were defenders - with John Stones scoring twice against Panama and Trippier and Maguire netting in the knockout stages.Įven Kane, despite his six goals, struggled for scoring chances. Remarkably, defender Harry Maguire had more touches (20) in the opposition box than any other England player apart from Raheem Sterling (22). Did England lack a creative player?įor a team with the second-highest goals tally (12) and containing the likely Golden Boot winner (Kane), it seems strange to suggest they lacked creativity.īut take set-pieces out of the equation and England's key attacking stats show a team struggling to make a major impact in the final third. So 75% of England's goals came from set-plays - more than any other team, excluding four sides in the group stages who only scored two goals.Īnd while they had more shots on target from set plays than anyone else - an average of six per 90 minutes - only five teams created fewer from open play. Harry Kane scored three penalties, Kieran Trippier netted a free-kick and they scored from four corners and a free-kick routine.īut that does mean they only scored three times from open play in six games, one of which was a lucky deflection off Harry Kane against Panama. They clearly prepared extensively when it came to maximising free-kicks and corners and their nine goals from set-pieces was a record at a World Cup for any team since the data was first recorded in 1966. Were England overly reliant on set-pieces?Įngland's dominance from set-pieces was one of the most striking aspects of their performances in Russia, with training-ground routines - the "love train", external-link anyone? - regularly translating into important goals. England players came of age - Southgate.'England revitalised, but a burning sense of missed opportunity'.But now that the euphoria of what they achieved - a first semi-final appearance in 28 years and only the third in English history - is subsiding, what did we learn about this team?Īnd did their unexpected success mask some deficiencies?
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