The duo were newcomers to the starting line-up alongside Jordan Henderson and Kyle Walker in the 0-0 draw against the USA, England boss Gareth Southgate leaving Raheem Sterling and Bukayo Saka, among others, on the bench. Even with a newly formed team, the English struggled with old problems in the first half. Playing with the handbrake on, the Welsh rarely got through.
By far the best chance before the break was missed by Rashford when, after preliminary work from Harry Kane, he failed alone in front of Danny Ward at the Welsh goalie (10th). In the 38th minute, the “Three Lions” managed a remarkable attack over several stations, Foden shot well over the bar. A few seconds later, a side kick from Rashford missed the target just as clearly.
The Welsh squad would have needed three points to remain in the promotion race but have focused almost exclusively on their own defence. At first there was only a hint of danger when Joe Allen (45 + 5) missed a shot. Gareth Bale had a pitch-black day and was substituted at half-time.
Without their top star, the last Welsh hopes of the round of 16 were over soon after the restart. First, Rashford sank a free kick taken by Foden on the edge of the penalty area in the goalie corner (50th). A few seconds later, the Manchester United pro managed to win the ball against Ben Davies, Kane played a perfect Stangl pass and Foden made it 2-0 from close range.
With that the game was over. England went into power-saving mode, but still managed to make it 3-0. Rashford dropped Connor Roberts and hit Ward between the legs. It was the third World Cup goal for the 25-year-old, putting him at the top of the list of shots alongside Kylian Mbappe (France), Cody Gakpo (Netherlands) and Enner Valencia (Ecuador), who has already been eliminated. The Welsh side, on the other hand, only managed one goal in their second appearance at the finals – their first since 1958 – and that came from a Bale penalty in a 1-1 draw against USA.