World Cup Preview | England v Senegal

One of the tournament favourites, England, take on Senegal who are ranked 18th in the FIFA rankings, just one place above Wales and two rankings behind USA.

Senegal advanced to the round of 16 on Tuesday after narrowly defeating Ecuador 2-1 which subsequently ended Ecuador’s World Cup campaign. Senegal became the first African nation to win two games in a World Cup group stage since Ghana in 2006.

Meanwhile, England secured top spot in Group B following their comfortable 3-0 victory over rivals, Wales. Marcus Rashford netted himself two goals whilst Phil Foden scored his first World Cup goal. Interestingly, despite only starting one game, Rashford is now level in the goalscoring charts in the hunt for the golden boot.

Sunday’s game will take place in Al Khor at the Al Bayt stadium which holds a capacity crowd of 68,895.

These two nations have never met in a competitive fixture or a friendly match.

Last five matches in all competitions:

England: W D W D L

Senegal: W W L D W

Team news

For England, Ben White was the only absentee in the clash against Wales, he missed out through illness. It is not yet known if White will return to the squad in time for Sunday’s game.

Idrissa Gueye, Senegal’s key player in midfield, will serve a one-game suspension after picking up his second yellow card of the group stages versus Ecuador.

Predicted XI’s

England (4-3-3): Pickford, Trippier, Stones, Maguire, Shaw, Rice, Bellingham, Mount, Rashford, Kane, Saka.

Senegal (4-3-3): E. Mendy, Sabaly, Koulibaly, Diallo, Jakobs, Ciss, Pape Alassane Gueye, Nampalys Mendy, Ndiaye, Sarr, Dia.

Mark Marston | GWFN

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