World Cup 2022: Reasons for England to be confident of beating Senegal

Gareth Southgate's side thumped Wales 3-0 to seal a first-placed finish in Group B on Tuesday night, with Marcus Rashford netting twice while Phil Foden also got in on the act for the Three Lions.

The 2018 runners-up took a respectable seven points from their three group matches to set themselves up nicely for a clash with African champions Senegal, who will unsurprisingly come into the clash as underdogs.

Here, Sports Mole picks out three reasons for England to be confident of beating Senegal and progressing to the quarter-finals.

Record against African nations

Seven times England have come up against African teams in the World Cup finals, and seven times they have avoided defeat, coming up with four wins and three draws from such fixtures on football's grandest stage.

Six of those seven matches did come in the groups, but their only knockout fixture versus an African nation ended in triumph back in 1990, as Gary Lineker (2) and David Platt came up with the goods in a 3-2 win over Cameroon in the quarter-finals.

England and Senegal have never locked horns in any international competition before, and while the Three Lions can proudly boast that unbeaten record versus other teams from the continent, the Africa Cup of Nations champions may be a different kettle of fish.

Nevertheless, it has been 72 years since England last faced a country for the first time at the World Cup and lost - going down 1-0 to the USA in 1950 - and they have never suffered defeat against any African nation in their 20 previous meetings.

Goals galore

England may have been shut out by the USA in that drab affair, but by putting six past Iran and a further three past Wales, the Three Lions are inching ever closer to an all-time national record on the World Cup stage.

Southgate's side unsurprisingly qualified for the last 16 as the joint-highest scorers in the group stage with nine goals - only Spain also chalked up as many in their three matches - and the Three Lions are now out to make goalscoring history in Qatar.

Indeed, England need just four more strikes to break their all-time record for goals at a single World Cup, which currently stands at 12 from Russia 2018, while the luminaries of 1966 also found the back of the net 11 times en route to the Jules Rimet trophy.

Remarkably, all of England's strikes have come without Harry Kane making the net ripple, but the Tottenham Hotspur talisman has demonstrated his playmaking qualities with three assists - becoming the first Three Lions man to hit that tally at a World Cup since David Beckham in 2002.

Kane is now out to become the first Englishman to record four assists in a single World Cup campaign, and he ought to feel confident of doing so against a side who have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last 10 World Cup games.

No Sadio Mane

To label Senegal a one-man team would be wholly inaccurate. Kalidou Koulibaly scored a volley that any striker would have been proud of against Ecuador, while Ismaila Sarr can often prove a nightmare for full-backs to defend against.

However, losing Sadio Mane to injury before the tournament was a devastating blow for the Lions of Teranga, whose remaining crop cannot come close to matching his goalscoring feats at international level.

After scoring three goals in World Cup qualifying for Senegal, Mane harnessed all of his big-game experience to lead his country to Africa Cup of Nations glory, scoring three goals and setting up two more to win the Player of the Tournament award.

Replacing the 30-year-old's 34 goals and 20 assists in 93 appearances would be a fruitless task for Senegal, whose next highest scorers in the current World Cup squad are Sarr and Famara Diedhiou with 11 apiece.

The goals have been shared around the Senegal team with a total of five players netting at the 2022 tournament so far, but without Mane spearheading the charge, their attacking line does not strike the same fear into the hearts of opposing teams.

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