It’ll be England vs France in the 2022 World Cup quarterfinals as Phil Foden set up two goals in the Three Lions’ 3-0 win over Senegal on Sunday.

Jordan Henderson’s finish of a Jude Bellingham feed eased the nerves after Senegal started brightly, and Foden set up Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka got goals on either side of halftime in the win.

WATCH ENGLAND v SENEGAL FULL MATCH REPLAY

Being without Idrissa Gana Gueye in addition to Sadio Mane made Senegal’s hopes of a upset quite dim, especially once Liverpool mainstay Henderson put England in front.

England vs France will come Saturday in Al Khor.

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Free-running England too much, as Gana gone = Senegal gone

There are not a lof of footballing nations outside of the very top, top sides that could handle the absence of Sadio Mane, and not many more could operate without Idrissa Gana Gueye.

Mane missed the entire tournament and Gana Gueye was suspended for this game against England. While that didn’t make the contest a fait accompli, it put a lot of extra pressure on Kalidou Koulibaly at the back as well as Senegal’s midfield duo of Nampalys Mendy and Ismaila Ciss.

But would England take advantage of the absences?

The answer is a resounding yes, and was exemplified by the opening goal. Senegal had played well for more than a half-hour of the match and even had the match’s biggest danger point, when Sarr was stopped by Jordan Pickford.

But let’s talk about England’s first goal: You’d be forgiven for wondering if the player arriving in the box to finish off midfielder Jude Bellingham’s cutback feed was Harry Kane but it was a slightly shorter Premier League player in Jordan Henderson.

Gana’s absence as disruptor allowed England to feel just a bit better about pushing forward, and it paid off.

Another note is the new headache in the forefront of Gareth Southgate’s mind as the usually conservative boss has to figure out how to situate two-assist Phil Foden along with Kane and the numerous England attackers who’ve begged for playing time with positive displays.

Nice problem to have.

Stars of the show

Phil Foden

Jude Bellingham

Jordan Henderson

Bukayo Saka

Harry Kane

Jordan Henderson goal video

Harry Kane goal video

How to watch England vs Senegal live, stream link and start time

Kick off: 2pm ET – Sunday, December 4
Stadium: Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor
TV channels en Español: Telemundo
Streaming en Español: Peacock (all 64 matches)

Key storylines, players to watch closely

When it comes to England they have so many wonderful attacking players that it’s so hard to get them all on the pitch at the same time. It is also tough for Southgate to get the balance of the team right. When England clicks up top they are almost unstoppable and Harry Kane is the chief creator as well as the biggest goal threat. But he’s yet to score in this tournament as Rashford, Saka and Co. have done the damage. Defensively John Stones and Harry Maguire have been excellent too and this will all be about if England are brave enough to come flying out of the traps and back their star forwards to have the win wrapped up by half time. England have no injury issues, although Ben White has flown back to the UK for personal reasons so the Three Lions squad now has 25 members who are all fully fit. That makes preparing to play England a nightmare as they could roll out so many different combinations and formations in midfield and attack. Southgate went with Saka, Foden and Kane up top against Senegal.

Senegal has nothing to lose which is very dangerous in a knockout game. They have great experience in their side with Kalidou Koulibaly and Edouard Mendy holding them together defensively and at the other end of the pitch Ismaila Sarr has really stepped up in attack in the absence of their superstar Sadio Mane. If Mane hadn’t been ruled out of this tournament due to injury, we would probably be talking about this Senegal side as a potential semifinalist. If England make a mistake or underestimate them, Senegal will make them pay but they will miss Idrissa Gana Gueye in midfield for this game as he’s suspended. There are also a few other injury issues for Senegal to deal with as Cheikhou Kouyate has been missing after he picked up an ankle injury in the opener.

England quick facts

Current FIFA world ranking: 5
World Cup titles: 1 (1966)
World Cup appearances: 15
How they qualified: Qualified automatically from UEFA
Coach: Gareth Southgate
Key players: Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, Jordan Pickford
At the 2022 World Cup – Won Group B with 7 points (+7 GD)

Senegal quick facts

Current FIFA world ranking: 18
World Cup titles: 0
World Cup appearances: 2
How they qualified: Beat Egypt in CAF playoff
Coach: Aliou Cisse
Key players: Idrissa Gana Gueye, Edouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly
At the 2022 World Cup – Finished 2nd in Group A with 4 points (+1 GD)

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Foden, Kane shine as England handles Senegal to set up France meeting originally appeared on NBCSports.com