Rashford has 'massive ambition' for rampant England

Al-Rayyan, Qatar, Nov 29, 2022 (AFP) - Marcus Rashford believes the best is yet to come from England at the World Cup after cruising into the last 16 with a 3-0 win over Wales on Tuesday.

Rashford scored twice in the second half to move into a group of four players level on three goals in the race for the Golden Boot.

Phil Foden was also on target as the Three Lions set up a last 16 clash with Senegal on Sunday.

"This is what I play football for, the biggest moments, the best moments," Rashford told the BBC.

"I'm really happy today that we're going through to the next round. I have massive ambition for this team and think we can play even better than we showed today."

England are the tournament's top scorers with nine goals despite drawing their second group game against the United States 0-0.

Rashford was one of four changes made by Gareth Southgate from that match and said the squad were keen to make amends for a lacklustre performance.

"We were a little bit disappointed as a team after the last game against the USA. I thought we could have played a lot better and the only way to bounce back is to have a good performance in the next game and we did that," added Rashford.

"First half we defended brilliantly, didn't give them any opportunities, and it was just about us killing the game off and taking the chances when they came."

Rashford had not featured for England since the Euro 2020 final before being included in Southgate's squad for Qatar after his form dipped drastically for Manchester United.

However, his eight goals for United this season were enough to convince the England boss he was worthy of a call-up and is fully justifying his selection.

"It's great for him, he's trained really well," said Southgate. "I have to say he's really been impressive since he came back here with us."

Despite thrashing Iran 6-2 in their opening game to get England's tournament off to a flying start, Southgate was left annoyed by the concession of two late goals and was happy to see no let up in concentration against a Welsh side whose first World Cup campaign since 1958 ended at the group stage.

"The first half we really controlled the game. We didn't create enough clear chances, just Marcus' one when he ran in behind, so we wanted a little bit more thrust and threat in their final third," added Southgate.

"Second half, once we've got the two goals, we knew that their spirit was probably gone. It's been a tough tournament for them. I thought we kept our discipline and quality right the way to the end."