England manager Gareth Southgate was delighted to see his side display a streak of "ruthlessness" in their World Cup 2022 last-16 win over Senegal at the Al Bayt Stadium on Sunday evening.
The Three Lions had taken seven points from a possible nine in Group B to set up a knockout tie with the Lions of Teranga, who placed second in Group A behind the Netherlands.
England were widely regarded as the favourites to advance to the quarter-finals, but an aggressive and front-footed Senegal made life difficult for the Three Lions in the early moments.
Southgate's side made several passing errors at the back, and they were indebted to Jordan Pickford for keeping out Boulaye Dia's effort with a strong right hand just past the half-hour mark.
However, the Three Lions would draw first blood in the 38th minute through Jordan Henderson, who arrived in the box to calmly finish from Jude Bellingham's cutback, before the Borussia Dortmund man made a surging run through the middle to play another huge part in the second goal.
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Bellingham laid off Phil Foden, who in turn teed up Harry Kane to fire home his first World Cup 2022 goal on the stroke of half time, and Bukayo Saka added a third for England in the 52nd minute.
England saw out a comfortable 3-0 victory to advance to the quarter-finals - where they will meet holders France - and the clinical nature of their performance left Southgate elated at the full-time whistle.
"I was pleased with the ruthlessness of our execution, the progress they are making is phenomenal," the 52-year-old told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"The team made a very complicated game tonight look straightforward. It wasn't the case but because of the mentality and attitude we made it look that way.
"The team have garnered so much experience in the last few years, they're playing with confidence and we look threatening. We're scoring goals and another clean sheet is lovely to see. We're in a good place but we know the level of the opposition as well."
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England will be heading into Saturday's quarter-final with France - who beat Poland 3-1 in their last-16 battle - as the underdogs, but Southgate is relishing the opportunity for his side to test their mettle against the reigning champions.
"It couldn't be more exciting. France are the biggest test we could face. World champions, incredible depth of players and very difficult to score goals. A fantastic challenge," Southgate added.
However, England's win was overshadowed by the news that Raheem Sterling's home was broken into by armed robbers on Saturday evening while his family were inside, and the Chelsea attacker subsequently missed the clash with Senegal as he flew back to the UK.
"We've got to wait and see. At the moment, clearly the priority is for him to be with his family. We're going to support that, and leave him to have as much time as he needs," Southgate told ITV Sport when asked if Sterling could return to Qatar.
"He's going home. At the moment it's a situation that he needs time with his family to deal with, and I don't want to put him under any pressure with that. Sometimes football isn't the most important thing, and family should come first."
Foden and Bellingham came up with the assists for England on Sunday night, and the former believes that his Borussia Dortmund counterpart will eventually become the best midfielder in the world.
Ben Knapton
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