England route to final confirmed after Panama win including potential nightmare last 16 tie

England have topped Group L after their win over Panama.

Ryan Smart

England's route to the final looks a lot clearer after they finished on top of Group L by beating Panama 2-0 in New Jersey.

Thomas Tuchel's side made hard work of the victory, with the two nations locked together at 0-0 at half-time.

The Three Lions had few clear cut chances to speak of in that first half, with Marcus Rashford's free-kick the closest they came.

The second half started more brightly - in truth, it had to - with Rashford finding the side netting and Kane forcing a save out of Panama goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera.

Jude Bellingham finally opened the scoring with a right-footed, first-time finish from a corner on 62 minutes.

Kane then became England's all-time top goalscorer at World Cups when he headed home Bellingham's pinpoint cross six minutes later.

Panama thought they'd reduced the deficit to 2-1 in second half injury time when Jose Farjado found the net with a superb finish into the top corner, but the goal was ruled out for offside.

There was one concern for Tuchel, however, as right-back Jarell Quansah appeared to pick up an injury in the second half before being replaced by Djed Spence.

Reece James will miss at least England's round of 32 match with a hamstring problem, with Spence now the only player with any extensive experience of playing right-back in the squad.

Tuchel's side knew going into the contest that, if they were able to win the group, they would be guaranteed to face one of five third-placed teams from across the other groups in that round of 32 contest.

Following the results in the other groups, England will take on DR Congo in the round of 32 after they finished third in Group K.

At full-time in the Panama fixture, Tuchel's side were projected to take on Senegal, who finished in third in Group I.

But FIFA's calculation system meant that, if DR Congo beat Uzbekistan in their final match, they would be guaranteed to take on England. They came from behind to win 3-1 through three second-half goals in Atlanta.

Should they progress through the round of 32, the Three Lions could face a fiendish task in the last 16 against co-hosts Mexico - in Mexico City.

For the quarter-finals, Brazil are on the opposite side of England's section of the draw.

They take on Japan in the round of 32, while Ivory Coast and Norway are the other potential last eight opponents for Tuchel and his side.

Should England reach the semi-finals, defending champions Argentina could come into the mix, while Australia, Egypt, Switzerland and Colombia are the other confirmed members of their particular section of the draw.

The final will, of course, open up the opposite side of the bracket to England, and the Three Lions could come up against any of Germany, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands or France.

Co-hosts United States are also on that side of the draw but their projected path looks significantly more difficult than it did at an earlier stage of the tournament.