BETTER. Much better. England’s 3-0 win over Wales on Tuesday night to seal their safe passage to the last 16 of the 2022 World Cup as Group B winners was the perfect tonic to the drab 0-0 draw against the USA four days earlier.

Marcus Rashford and Phil Foden were the headline introductions as Gareth Southgate shuffled his deck for the final match of the first stage, and the Manchester-based pair were both on the scoresheet, with the United forward striking either side of the City man’s effort.

Here are three things we learned from England’s emphatic victory that sends them into the knockout phase, where they will face Senegal, with renewed momentum and optimism.

Rashford Rolling

When Rashford collected a pass from Kane shortly after coming off the bench in the group-stage opener against Iran, the 25-year-old was taking his first touch as an England player since missing his penalty in the Euro 2020 shootout loss to Italy 18 months earlier.

Three touches later, the ball was in the net. Not only had Rashford netted his first goal at a major international tournament but he had also demonstrated the returned confidence that had been on full display at club level in the first half of the Premier League season.

The Manchester United star was given the opportunity to start for the first time in Qatar against Wales and he quickly proved himself worthy of a berth in Southgate’s best XI.

With an uncompromising directness England desperately lacked against the United States, he drove forward – on and off the ball – to threaten the space in behind the Welsh backline. Chances were few in the first half but Rashford was a constant willing runner and a genuine threat.

His first goal of the game – and powerful, swerving free kick from 25 yards out – set England on their way just as frustration at the deadlock might have begun to set in. And his menacing off-ball presence was a feature of England’s second as he harried the Wales defence into coughing up possession in the lead-up to Foden’s goal.

Rashford’s second of the game – a cut inside from the right and a low, left-footed drive beneath goalkeeper Danny Ward – was the mark of a player for whom everything is going right at present. England must ride his wave of confidence from here.

Kane the Creator

The directness of Rashford’s runs and the dynamism of Foden on the flanks helped unleash an under-appreciated side of captain Kane at the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium.

The Spurs superstar is still surprisingly goalless at the World Cup, but, having provided a pin-point cross for Foden to tap home from close range just minutes after Rahsford’s dead-ball opener, he now has three assists – more than any other player in Qatar.

It is not by coincidence that Kane wears the number 10 on his back at club level. He has always fancied himself as a playmaker, dropping off the frontline to link play, and he is arguably England’s finest passer in the attacking third.

Against the USA and at times against Iran, he cut an isolated figure up front, dropping ever deeper into the midfield zones to involve himself in the game. He dropped back to a degree against Wales, too, but this time he had targets for his well-measured through-balls. Rashford and Foden proved more adept at going beyond their totemic striker and unleashing his creative side than Raheem Sterling and Bukayo Saka had been previously.

Buzzing Bellingham

With Jordan Henderson brought into the starting line-up, Jude Bellingham – England’s best performer at the tournament so far, despite being their youngest player – was unshackled and allowed to operate in more advanced spaces.

Where Chelsea’s Mason Mount had been tidy if unforceful as England’s forwardmost midfielder in the first two games, Bellingham buzzed with energy and invention against Wales. He joined Rashford and Foden in breaking ahead of Kane when the chance arose. He pressed with vigour when out of possession. And he was more able to tap into his creative side while stationed higher up the pitch, creating two chances at he lasted the full 90 minutes.

After the let-down of the USA stalemate last time out, England have regained a head of steam heading into the last 16. Unbeaten, two wins from three games, nine goals scored and two successive clean sheets – bigger tests await but England, on the whole, are hitting the right notes.