England 3 – 0 Costa Rica

Anthony Gordon starred as England stepped up their World Cup preparations with a 3-0 win over Costa Rica in their final official friendly before the tournament.

A thunder and lightning storm soaked the surface in Orlando forcing a one-hour delay to kick-off. England’s performance wasn’t quite so dramatic but there were encouraging signs for Thomas Tuchel a week out from their World Cup opener with Croatia.

Gordon was the standout of those. The new Barcelona winger is full of confidence and showed his speed and directness to run around the Costa Rica defence and cut the ball back for Declan Rice’s deflected opener.

Gordon then thumped in a second-half penalty to underline his form. He looks to have won the battle with Marcus Rashford for the left-wing spot against Croatia.

Ollie Watkins then stepped off the bench to poach a late third for an England side which played with more intensity than they did in Saturday’s win over New Zealand. They should have won by more against a scrappy Costa Rica who failed to qualify for the World Cup.

Noni Madueke’s first-half miss was a shocker, shooting against the post with the goal gaping, while sub Morgan Rogers squandered a big chance of his own with 15 minutes to play. It was, though, his parried shot by replacement goalkeeper Abraham Madriz which fell into Watkins’ path.

Rogers may fear he’s lost the No 10 shirt to Jude Bellingham, who caught the eye with his fantastic pass for Madueke’s big chance and dribbled past four defenders in the build-up to Eberechi Eze winning Gordon’s penalty.

In another nod to his standing in this team, Bellingham took the captain’s armband when Harry Kane went off amid a wave of substitutions after Tuchel had given his strong starting XI an hour.

In that first 60 minutes, Rice, playing his first minutes of the camp after joining up late due to Arsenal’s Champions League final, looked immediately up to speed, while full-backs Reece James and Nico O’Reilly looked comfortable. The centre-back pairing of John Stones and Ezri Konsa – with Marc Guehi surprisingly on the bench – was untested.

At the other end, Kane was heavily involved, playing a delicious pass which led to Gordon going down in the box late in the first half, although a VAR review led to ref Katja Koroleva overturning her initial penalty award. There was no goal for the skipper this time, despite him testing starting ‘keeper Patrick Sequeira with a similar header to the one he scored against New Zealand.

With fresh legs through the team and players with a point to prove, England pinned Costa Rica back in the final stages, scoring another through Watkins and searching for more rewards. Bukayo Saka, Kobbie Mainoo and Rogers again all had sights at goal as England finished with a swagger.

England will continue their World Cup preparations with a behind-closed-doors match with local side Miami FC on Thursday. They look to be on a positive trajectory.

Tuchel: A high-level performance

Thomas Tuchel speaking to ITV:

“We deserved to win, we should have scored more, created a lot. The attitude, intensity and energy was on a very high level. Everyone did well. A very good team performance. We wanted to push to the next level and we got it – the fans in the stadium could feel it. Counter pressing was good, defending, togetherness – everything was on a high level.

“Tonight makes my mind very calm as we are absolutely going the right way and I’m very proud of the team spirit. The guys who came in were influential and the guys on the bench were pushing. It’s exactly what we wanted.

“We saw very good substitutes who were very disappointed to not start. They came on and played with the same intensity and quality against a tired opponent – well done to everyone.”

Does he know his starting XI for Croatia? “I will find 11 for tomorrow’s game and then I have six days.

“We play tomorrow and then the players get one and a half days off to switch off. And then we change location to go to Kansas to prepare for Croatia. What we saw today was what we wished for and what we wanted so I’m very calm and very proud of the way we played.”

Gordon: I love the pressure of penalties

Anthony Gordon speaking to ITV:

“There’s always pressure when playing for England, as you know there are great players waiting to come on from the bench and make their impact. If you can’t deal with that then you’re at the wrong level. I’m playing with amazing players so they make me look much better.”

On the penalty: “I was buzzing H [Kane] was off, I was trying to find him but when I knew he was off, I wanted to take it. I love the pressure of penalties.”

In pictures: Thunder and lightning storm forces hour-long delay

The view from Orlando: Slick, pacy, energetic England impress

Sky Sports’ Rob Dorsett:

“The pedantic will argue, correctly, that England should have scored more goals. That they didn’t ruthlessly put a poor Costa Rica to the sword earlier. That is true.

“But there was much more for Thomas Tuchel to savour than the three goals for Rice, Gordon and Watkins. England were slick, pacy, energetic throughout. They pressed high and effectively, despite the heat and humidity.

“Bellingham was outstanding again, and is surely now going to pip his mate Morgan Rogers for the No 10 spot.

“Stones was stylish, as you’d expect, and has further enhanced his standing in the side. But probably the standout man was Anthony “Barcelona” Gordon, who made one and scored one (emphatically from the spot) and he was England’s most direct threat throughout.

“He has surely given Tuchel some real doubts about whether Rashford is truly England’s first-choice left winger.

“Eze had a nice cameo and looked very sharp in the closing minutes too.

“No apparent injuries, despite some hefty Costa Rica challenges. And I think Tuchel will reflect on a very good day’s work.

“Next up, the World Cup proper. Bring it on.”

What’s next?

The World Cup begins! Mexico vs South Africa is the tournament opener on Thursday 11 June; kick-off 8pm UK time.

England begin their World Cup campaign against Croatia, with their opening Group L clash kicking off at 9pm in Arlington, Texas on Wednesday June 17.