England fans partied into the night after the team cruised to victory against Wales in their “Battle of Britain” World Cup game.
It means England topped their group and now face Senegal in a last 16 tie on Sunday night to decide who gets through to the quarter-finals.
England won the game 3-0 thanks to a goal from Manchester City star Phil Foden and a brace from Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford with drinks thrown in the air in fan parks and pubs across the nation with chants of “It’s coming home” after the goals went in.
There was a carnival atmosphere outside the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Qatar ahead of kick-off, with both sides exchanging chants – including England fans with a drum giving a rendition of “You’re going home tonight”.
But at the end of the game, Wales fans were seen leaving viewing areas in Swansea, with others holding their heads in their hands as they watched their side crash out of the tournament.
By contrast the sounds of cheering echoed around pubs across the capital as soon as Rashford scored the first goal shortly after the second half began. More followed as Foden scored the second soon after before Rashford put the game beyond doubt in the 68th minute.
The second the final whistle blew to mark England’s 3-0 victory, the sound of Sweet Caroline was blasted out at O’Neills pub in London’s Chinatown.
Draped in a St George’s flag, medical student Jordan Smith, 21, of Marylebone, west London, said: “In the second half, our players turned up and we scored three goals in about 30 minutes.
“It took a long time but we took our chances and also brought on some players, which I think helped.
“When you see what we did in the second half, it gives you hope, but if you are drawing with teams like the USA, how do you think we will match up to squads like Germany?”
He said that “England maybe are not consistent enough” but, touching his chest, he added that as a diehard fan “it is all about heart – we have got to believe we can do this”.
The official England Twitter account posted a photo of the two goalscorers with Rashford’s double bringing him up to three goals so far and level at the top of the golden boot table with players including French star Kylian Mbappe.
Your #ThreeLions goalscorers! pic.twitter.com/KvpY5qiw8h
— England (@England) November 29, 2022
Among those celebrating at the ground was Scott Kind, 49, who lives in Qatar and said it was a “brilliant result” and he was pleased to see players in the squad get time on the pitch.
Asked if he had seen what he wanted to see, he said: “Second half yep, they need to be quicker moving the ball around but it was good.”
On England’s hopes for the rest of the tournament, Mr Kind said: “Decent draw second round and we’ll see – I don’t want to jinx it.”
Some fans had tried to stay neutral - before the game the Prince and Princess of Wales posted on Twitter to say “Here we go… may the best team win!” in English and Welsh.
Here we go…may the best team win!
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) November 29, 2022
Dyma ni … boed i’r tîm gorau ennill!
🏴🏴#FIFAWorldCup
Victory did not totally dispel the controversy arounding Qatar’s hosting of the games and sports minister Stuart Andrew was pictured inside the stadium wearing the One Love anti-discrimination armband.
The Conservative frontbencher, who is gay, said it was “really unfair” that football’s governing body prevented the captains of England and Wales wearing the armband at the 11th hour.
