Harry Kane netted a hat-trick to climb to the top of the 2018 World Cup top scorers chart as England thrashed Panama 6-1 in Nizhny Novgorod.
The Three Lions were five goals ahead at the interval en route to claiming their biggest-ever win at a major tournament, with John Stones netting two of them from set pieces and Jesse Lingard scoring from long range.
Kane also converted from two penalties in the first half and got lucky with his third after the restart, before Felipe Baloy pulled back a consolation for the Central American minnows late on.
Relive how the 90 minutes of action unfolded with Sports Mole's live text coverage below.
12.00pmHello and welcome to Sports Mole's live text coverage of the World Cup clash between England and Panama at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium. Victory for the Three Lions in their second Group G outing will send them through, alongside leaders Belgium, with a game to spare, while Los Canaleros suffered a 3-0 defeat to Belgium in their opener and have to get off the mark this afternoon if they are to prolong their tournament debut beyond the group stage.
12.02pmBelgium have well and truly laid down a marker across their opening two fixtures, beating Panama 3-0 in their opening match and following that up with an emphatic 5-2 triumph against Tunisia yesterday. England can now join the Red Devils on six points from six if, as expected, they get the job done against one of the lowest-ranked nations in the competition. All eyes will then be on Thursday evening's clash between the top two.
12.04pmENGLAND TEAM NEWS!
STARTING XI: Pickford; Walker, Stones, Maguire; Trippier, Henderson, Young; Loftus-Cheek, Lingard; Sterling; Kane
SUBS: Butland, Pope, Jones, Cahill, Alexander-Arnold, Rose, Delph, Dier, Dele, Rashford, Welbeck, Vardy
12.06pmIf you thought the whole team leak to the press was a non-story at the time, it looks like even more of one now as Gareth Southgate has named Raheem Sterling in his startling lineup. That is a surprise of sorts, as Marcus Rashford looked lively when replacing Sterling in the second half of the 2-1 win against Tunisia, but he is again made to settle for a place among the subs this afternoon.
12.08pmThe only change from that last outing comes in attacking midfield, as Tottenham Hotspur ace Dele Alli is carrying a minor injury - not enough to rule him out of the squad completely - and is replaced by Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Like Rashford, Loftus-Cheek took his chance against Tunisia when it arrived and, if all goes well today, he may just remain in the side to face Belgium next week.
12.10pmThe core of this Three Lions side pretty much picks itself now. Harry Maguire did well against Tunisia and is preferred to Gary Cahill once again, while Nick Pope was given a pretty comfortable evening on his competitive tournament bow. Elsewhere, Gareth Southgate has stuck with Ashley Young at left wing-back, with Danny Rose kept in reserve, and Jordan Henderson retains his place over Eric Dier in the engine room.
12.12pmPANAMA TEAM NEWS!
STARTING XI: Penedo; Murillo, R Torres, Escobar, Davis; Barcenas, Cooper, Gomez, Godoy, J.Rodriguez; Perez
SUBS: Calderon, Cummings, Gabriel Torres, Diaz, Machado, Pimentel, Arroyo, Ovalle, Tejada, Avila, Baloy, Alex Rodriguez
12.14pmThere was plenty of talk about the leaked England team sheet heading into this match. As it turned out, that was wrong - Raheem Sterling starts, with Marcus Rashford on the bench - but either way opposition boss Hernan Dario Gomez made clear that it would be no advantage either way. To prove his point, the experienced boss named his team 24 hours ago, sticking with the same XI that lost 3-0 to Belgium.
12.16pmRoman Torres was the only doubt heading into the Belgium match but, having come through the 90 minutes unscathed, he starts in the heart of defence today. Seattle Sounders defender Torres has amassed over 100 senior caps and may just be using this World Cup as a shop window for a move to English football - the Premier League or otherwise - at the age of 32. Alongside him today is Fidel Escobar.
12.18pmJaime Penedo of Dinamo Bucharest is in goal, meanwhile, and at the opposite end of the field is Municipal striker Blas Perez, who has 43 goals in 113 outings. Panama will effectively go with a 4-5-1 formation today, set out in an attempt to stifle England's attacking players and grind out an unlikely point. Among the five midfielder is Armando Cooper - the last Los Canaleros player to score against a European side.
12.20pmGareth Southgate makes just the one change to his England side - not the two that many expected. Dele Alli picked up an injury in the 2-1 win against Tunisia and is not risked from the off today, so there is another chance for Ruben Loftus-Cheek to impress behind Harry Kane. The big news in many ways is that Raheem Sterling, without a goal for the Three Lions in 21 games, starts ahead of Marcus Rashford.
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12.22pmBelgium very much laid down a marker by thrashing Tunisia 5-2 on Saturday afternoon, less than a week on from their 3-0 victory against Panama. It means that England lag three points and five goals behind the group leaders ahead of this game in hand, with the sides due to meet in a likely shootout for top spot next Thursday. If all goes to plan, we should have a great game on our hands in four days' time.
12.24pmIn many ways, though, finishing second in Group G may turn out to be better than coming out on top. That all depends on who you see as the tougher opponent from a group containing Japan, Senegal, Colombia and Poland, with the two pre-tournament favourites currently lagging in third and fourth. Those four sides are all in action a little later, so the picture in Groups G and H will become a little clearer by 9pm tonight.
12.26pmA draw would not be enough to seal progression for England today - officially, at least - as Panama could still claim all three points against Tunisia in their final group match, possibly taking it down to goal difference. Anything other than victory for the Three Lions today really would be a disaster; not quite on the Iceland scale but not a lot further behind, as they are the strong favourites to win.
12.28pmEngland produced some good football in their opening match but failed to take their chances when they arrived, allowing Ferjani Sassi to level up the match before half time. The Three Lions continued to probe away throughout the second half and, just when it looked like another disappointing result at a major final, up popped Harry Kane for his second goal of the night in the dying stages.
12.30pmThey may have done it the hard way, but it was job done for Southgate's men in their opener - one game, one win. That was England's first opening-game win at the World Cup since 2006, and they are now on course of successive victories in the tournament since that same year. In fact, three points today and it will be just the second time ever that the Three Lions have kicked things off with back-to-back victories, having also done so in 1982.
12.32pmIt was a deserved win for England in Volgograd, even if they did do things the hard way after missing some glorious chances. Southgate will want his side to get the job done as early as possible this afternoon - a couple of first-half goals would be nice - in order to preserve some energy in the sapping Nizhny heat. It is currently 31 degrees Celsius in the host city; double the heat England have been used to training to in Zelenogorsk.
12.34pmSouthgate defended his decision to not train in this ground on the eve of the match. It was a strange call on the face of it, with the heat no doubt going to prove a factor today, but as Southgate pointed out his side did not train at the opposition ground ahead of any of their qualifiers. As Trippier also stressed during the week, keeping hold of the ball and not chasing the opposition is key over these next 90 minutes.
12.36pmEngland's profligacy may also come back to haunt them. Raheem Sterling, Dele Alli, Jesse Lingard, Marcus Rashford and Ruben Loftus-Cheek have scored just eight goals between them in 103 caps, compared to 15 in 25 for skipper Harry Kane. There is starting to become an overreliance on the Tottenham Hotspur striker, who became the first Three Lions player to net a World Cup brace since Gary Lineker in 1990.
12.38pmThe 2-1 win over Tunisia was, however, the first time that England have scored more than once in a World Cup game in 10 attempts, and they will now be looking to match that tally - or indeed better it - against Group G's bottom seeds. The Three Lions managed six shots on target in the first half of that opener, which they last managed way back in the semi-final of the 1966 World Cup on home soil.
12.40pmThat victory also ended a run of four matches without a win in the finals, having bombed at the last World Cup. That disastrous campaign was followed up by the embarrassment that was Euro 2016, explaining why confidence has been so low. Even after a positive qualifying campaign, seeing the Three Lions going unbeaten throughout, and some positive pre-tournament friendlies, you never quite know when it comes to England.
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12.42pmPREVIOUS MEETINGS! This will be the first meeting between these two sides, making Panama the 38th different nation England have faced at a World Cup. The Three Lions have only lost their first encounter with a side at the finals in five of the previous 37 times that it has happened - the United States, Spain, Uruguay, Hungary and Italy.
12.44pmPanama head into this match sitting 55th in the FIFA rankings and are participating in the World Cup for the first time in their history. Even reaching the finals was a magical achievement in its own right, edging out Costa Rica with an 88th-minute winner in their last match through a Roman Torres goal for the ages. The nation of four million people qualified at the expense of the United States, population 327 million.
12.46pmFollowing that famous victory, the president of Panama gave the entire country the following day off work to celebrate. Now just imagine if they can snatch a draw against England today and take it down to the final set of fixtures - the country will come to a complete standstill! This is a disciplined side with years of experience working together, and they showed against Belgium that they have the ability to frustrate.
12.48pmIt took Belgium 47 minutes to break Panama down in Sochi through a stunning Dries Mertens opener, before Romelu Lukaku took control for his first two of four goals in the finals. Michael Murillo squandered a big chance to equalise in that match, so while 3-0 gives the impression of a one-sided game, it could have been a different outcome on a different day. England will just be praying that the biggest shock of the competition is not reserved for them - again!
12.50pmLos Canaleros were shown five yellow cards in the loss to Belgium - the most for one side since the Netherlands picked up seven in the 2010 final against Spain. Hernan Dario Gomez admitted after the game that his side "are not as fit" as some of their opponents, and overcoming European nations has proved to be particularly tough. They have not won any of 10-such matches in their history.
12.52pmIn fact, Panama have played six European teams since qualifying for the finals, failing to win any of them. A 1-1 draw with Wales last autumn was a positive result, albeit in a game that saw the Dragons make mass changes before shipping late on, and a goalless draw against Northern Ireland also gives them just a little hope of a similar outcome today. This is all about digging deep and recording a third clean sheet in five outings.
12.54pmDID YOU KNOW? Panama's 3-0 loss to Belgium was the biggest opening-game loss for any World Cup debutant since Ukraine fell to a 4-0 loss at the hands of Spain in 2006. A debutant last lost by three or more goals in their first two matches back in 1994 when Greece lost 4-0 to Bulgaria and Argentina. Los Canaleros are rightly billed as the plucky underdogs, and it would be cruel if their tournament was to end with a thumping today.
12.56pmWith kickoff in Nizhny Novgorod now less than five minutes away, let us check out some pre-match thoughts from both camps.
Gareth Southgate: "To play with the freedom, energy and pace that we did was as good as anything I have seen in the tournament up to this point. Every team will want to improve but we hit a level that is comparable to anything that I've seen. The team that we selected for the first game performed as well as I can remember us playing with the ball in the first hour of the game."
Hernan Dario Gomez: "[The leaked team sheet] doesn't give me or afford me any advantage. I think each and every coach needs to make sure they're 100% prepared and ready regardless of the opposition. England are going to be our hardest match by far. They don't have a lot of individual stars like Belgium and [Eden] Hazard, but they work well as a team, especially on ball recovery, and are an excellent team.
12.58pmSouthgate claims that England produced football as good as any other side across the opening round of fixtures and, while his side had to wait until the last seconds before seeing off Tunisia, it was a case of job done. Now, in this second Group G outing against the bottom seeds, scoring goals is the order of the day. A late win will not be greeted as warmly as it was in that opening match, you feel.
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1 minKICKOFF! England, back in their traditional white strip this afternoon, get us up and running at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium. Panama, sporting a red kit, have won just one of their last eight matches heading into this huge clash.
3 minThe temperature is expected to climb to about 34 degrees, but that is not enough to warrant a drinks break - officially, at least, because you can be sure that we will have one or two unplanned stoppages throughout the contest.
5 minWe have already had the first of those 'unplanned stoppages' because Lingard has taken an elbow to the face from Gabriel Gomez. We knew Panama were going to be aggressive and that could so easily have been a red card. Lingard may have to leave the field.
7 minCHANCE! Head injuries are always a concern but Lingard has been given the all-clear to return to the field. VAR was not consulted for that Gomez elbow on Lingard. The first chance falls to Anibal Godoy, who skied the ball over the bar from a good position in the box.
8 minEngland sloppy in possession for that Godoy chance, created by Yoel Barcenas, which he should have been doing a lot better from. A few words being said between the Three Lions' three central defenders already; they have not really settled just yet.
9 minGOAL! ENGLAND 1-0 PANAMA (JOHN STONES)
10 minHow on earth Panama expect to get away with some of this grappling in the box I don't know. Plenty going on in the box from England's first corner, but one of those to escape his marker was John Stones, who powered a header past Jaime Penedo from right on the penalty spot.
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12 minYELLOW CARD! Armando Cooper is booked for hacking away at Jesse Lingard's legs. England have had one attack and scored one goal, but getting through this match with no injuries could prove to be too much to ask!
14 minKyle Walker with a smart intervention to cut out the Panama cross. That is now a couple of times Los Canaleros have created something from sloppy England play; twice they have not really made the most of it. England need to remain alert.
16 minThe Three Lions have offered very little from open play in the opening 16 minutes of the game. Corners, like against Tunisia, could prove to be their best route through on goal, with John Stones already powering home a header.
18 minSHOT! The best piece of attacking play today by some distance, as Michael Murillo gets forward down the right and gives the ball to Yoel Barcenas. The winger took on a shot from range and had Jordan Pickford diving across his goal, with the ball flying narrowly wide.
20 minMaguire and Young are there to be got at, as shown by Murillo a few moments ago. Having looked at that England opener again, the referee almost certainly would have awarded a penalty had John Stones' header not crept in.
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21 minPENALTY TO ENGLAND! Panama look incredibly shaky at the back. Jesse Lingard spins in behind and waits for the contact from both Fidel Escobar and Roman Torres. The referee points to the spot and VAR confirms that Lingard was onside, so Harry Kane will step up...
22 minGOAL! ENGLAND 2-0 PANAMA (HARRY KANE, PEN)
23 minFor the fifth England match running, Harry Kane is on the scoresheet. This time it was via a penalty, and what an emphatic penalty it was. Jaime Penedo dived the right way but the ball was blasted into the top corner to give the Three Lions some breathing space.
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25 minKane had to wait an age before stepping up for the penalty because Panama's players were complaining about something. Once Kane had found the top corner, Los Canaleros found something else to moan about - the England striker's celebration!
27 minThere is a case to be made that Panama have been the more dangerous side from open play. England have had just a couple of attacks and have a couple of goals to their name, coming via a corner kick and a penalty kick. This is shaping up to be a Sunday stroll.
29 minRuben Loftus-Cheek was shown a yellow card in the aftermath of England's second goal for some reason. Panama's players surrounded the referee before and after Kane tucked away the spot kick, and they are at risk of seriously losing their heads.
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31 minSHOT! England have allowed Panama to take control of possession since edging a couple of goals ahead. A risky strategy, because Jose Rodriguez was in a good position to get a shot away, only to thump it over Jordan Pickford's crossbar.
33 minTwo shots on target so far in Nizhny Novgorod and two goals scored. Harry Maguire drifted away from his man from a deep free kick into the box, but his header - not sure if it was a shot or pass - ended on the roof of the opposition net.
35 minGareth Southgate will be delighted to have seen his side net a couple of goals without really getting out of second gear. The temperature remains around the 32 degree mark in Nizhny and the Three Lions boss will no doubt look to make a few changes in the second half.
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36 minGOAL! ENGLAND 3-0 PANAMA (JESSE LINGARD)
37 minWhat a brilliant strike this is from Jesse Lingard. A quick exchange of passes on the edge of the Panama box and the Manchester United midfielder then curled it out of Jaime Penedo's reach. The Three Lions can start planning for the Belgium match.
39 minHalf time is fast approaching in Nizhny and England are in dreamland. They have netted three times to close the gap on Group G leaders Belgium and can now preserve their energy in the blistering heat ahead of Thursday's showdown between the two sides.
40 minGOAL! ENGLAND 4-0 PANAMA (JOHN STONES)
41 minEngland are on course to break all sorts of records here. A brilliantly-worked free kick from the Three Lions, with Jordan Henderson playing the ball towards the back post for Harry Kane. Sterling's shot was saved by Penedo once it was knocked into his path by Kane, but Stones was there to convert the follow-up from a couple of yards out.
43 minLingard gets another curled effort on target from the edge of the Panama box, which takes a deflection on its way past Penedo. You get the impression that Southgate's men will not be happy to settle for just the four gals today.
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44 minPENALTY TO ENGLAND! I can't quite recall seeing defending this bad at any level. Another England corner into the box, another infringement. Kane was wrestled to the floor by Godoy and the referee rightly pointed to the penalty spot.
45+1 minGOAL! ENGLAND 5-0 PANAMA (HARRY KANE, PEN)
45+2 minYet again it takes an age before Kane can step up for the penalty. The outcome is identical - right into the top corner of the net, with Penedo this time going the wrong way. Harry Kane is now joint-top scorer at the World Cup finals.
45+4 minHALF TIME: ENGLAND 5-0 PANAMA
1.48pmEngland have netted five goals in a World Cup game for the first time ever, and we still have 45 minutes to play. Panama have been unbelievably bad at the back, but credit to the Three Lions for making the most of it. Now the only question to be answered is just how many will Gareth Southgate's men score?
1.51pmAn incredible afternoon for England may have turned out a lot different had Anibal Godoy not skied a glorious chance for Panama from the first chance of the contest. Los Canaleros were targeting their opponents' left and could argue that they played the better football prior to England's opener, which arrived via the head of John Stones eight minutes in.
1.54pmPanama had already been warned about shirt-pulling inside the box prior to Kieran Trippier taking the corner, and had Stones not guided his header into the far corner the referee would have pointed to the spot for one of a number of infringements. Lessons were not learned, though, and a combination of Fidel Escobar and Roman Torres took Jesse Lingard to the ground after the forward spun in behind.
1.57pmKane stepped up and emphatically sent his penalty into the top corner of the net, leaving Jaime Penedo with no chance despite guessing the right way. Yoel Barcenas and Jose Rodriguez came close either side of England's second goal, but any hope they had of growing into the game were killed off 36 minutes in through Lingard's long-range curler following a quick exchange of passes with Raheem Sterling.
2.00pmPanama, guilty of roughing up their opponents throughout the one-sided affair, were punished for conceding a free kick 40 minutes in as Stones converted a close-range rebound once Sterling's shot was kept out by Penedo. That came from a training-ground routine to the delight of Gareth Southgate, and the Three Lions boss was given further reason to cheer when the fifth arrived 45 minutes in, again from a Kane penalty into the same corner after Godoy comically wrestled the striker to the ground.
2.03pmBENCH WATCH!
ENGLAND SUBS: Butland, Pope, Jones, Cahill, Alexander-Arnold, Rose, Delph, Dier, Dele, Rashford, Welbeck, Vardy
PANAMA SUBS: Calderon, Cummings, Gabriel Torres, Diaz, Machado, Pimentel, Arroyo, Ovalle, Tejada, Avila, Baloy, Alex Rodriguez
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46 minRESTART! We are back under way at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium. Neither manager made any changes at the break, so it is as you were. The Three Lions will be hoping to add a couple more goals to their tally here.
48 minEngland have started the second half in the same manner they ended the first, without managing to put the ball in the net yet. A penny for Hernan Dario Gomez's thoughts during that 15-minute interval after seeing his side completely ripped apart.
50 minPlenty of stats doing the rounds following that famous first-half display from England. Harry Kane is the first player to score a brace in his first two World Cup appearances since Poland's Grzegorz Lato in 1974, who went on to win the Golden Boot at that tournament.
52 minI'm a little surprised to see that four other sides have previously scored five goals in the first half of a World Cup match. The second half has passed by with little incident so far; England focused on conserving their energy.
54 minSouthgate will no doubt want to see his side add a further couple of goals to their tally, but avoiding any needless bookings and avoiding further injuries is more important at this point. This really is a cruise for the Three Lions.
56 minEngland are still actually behind Belgium on goal difference in the Group G standings, which says a lot about the Red Devils' consistency. There is a debate to be had, though, about whether finishing top is actually an advantage.
58 minThe second half has yet to get going at all. No great surprise, with England very much getting the job done in the opening 45 minutes, and Southgate must now be considering a change or two for the remaining half an hour.
60 minPanama produced some questionable challenges in the first half and they have not exactly improved in that regard in the opening 15 minutes of the second half. Still awaiting the first shot at either end of the pitch since the restart.
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62 minEngland still yet to get going in this second period. The Three Lions are in complete control but the intensity levels, understandably so, have dropped quite considerably. Southgate is readying Jamie Vardy and Fabian Delph to come on.
63 minGOAL! ENGLAND 6-0 PANAMA (HARRY KANE)
64 minLoftus-Cheek's shot from the edge of the box clips the heel of Harry Kane and floats over Penedo - the Tottenham Hotspur striker has score a hat-trick for England in the World Cup finals. The Golden Boot standings has a new leader.
66 minENGLAND SUBS! Harry Kane was subbed immediately after his hat-trick goal - great timing. Jamie Vardy is given a run through the middle for the remaining minutes, while Fabian Delph takes over from Jesse Lingard in midfield.
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68 minCHANCE! Good play from Panama, which I have not been able to say for a while. Michael Murillo is played through down the left and clipped the ball over Jordan Pickford, but a couple of England players were back to hack the ball away.
70 minWe are into the final 20 minutes at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, where around 43,000 are in attendance. They have certainly not been left short-changed in terms of goals - just the six of them so far, and there is still plenty of time for more.
72 minSUBS! Barcenas and Baloy are on for Arroyo and Gomez for the final quarter of the match. England also make their third and final change, as Kieran Trippier - who appears to be carrying a knock - is replaced by Danny Rose.
74 minCLOSE! Not far wide at all from Henderson, whose acrobatic volley would have been the icing on the cake for England. I'm sure the Three Lions fans in the stands will settle for the six goals from their trip to Nizhny Novgorod.
76 minCHANCE! Roman Torres will not have a better chance than this to net at the finals. The defender watched the corner as it dropped to his feet a few yards from goal, yet his first-time finish ended wide of the target.
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78 minGOAL! ENGLAND 6-1 PANAMA (FELIPE BALOY)
79 minJust as I was typing that Panama deserve a goal, Felipe Baloy - the most senior of Los Canaleros's players - pulls one back for his side. England have switched off defensively and the 102-cap defender got on the end of Ricardo Avila's free kick to tuck past Pickford.
81 minThe Panama fans are absolutely loving it in the stands, as is manager Hernan Dario Gomez on the sidelines. Parity is almost restored - Sterling's curler is inches wide of the target. England are now worse off than Belgium on goal difference.
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83 minMy maths was a little out - apologies! England and Belgium are, of course, level on goal difference now. Eight scored and two conceded from their first two matches. Both teams may rotate a little for that upcoming top-place shootout.
85 minFive minutes left to play in Nizhny and, as they have been all half, England are just coasting at the moment. The second-half performance has been well below what we saw in the opening 45 minutes, but I think that can be excused.
87 minPanama are the team attacking, going in search of just a second ever World Cup finals goal. It has been a pretty terrible display from the Central Americans, defensively speaking at least, but credit to them for going until the end and pulling at least one back.
89 minThe referee may put the Panama players out of their misery by only adding on a couple of minutes. This match has been over pretty much since midway through the first half, with England picking up their biggest ever World Cup victory.
90+1 minFour minutes have been added on at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium. Plenty of tired legs out there now and England will be happy to hear that full-time whistle without any more injury problems. We await word on the knock sustained by Trippier.
90+3 minThree of the four added-on minutes have been played. Panama are pretty desperate for a second goal to gain just a little confidence ahead of their shootout with Tunisia, which is a shootout to avoid bottom place in Group G.
90+5 minFULL TIME: ENGLAND 6-1 PANAMA
3.00pmThe full-time whistle sounds, marking England's biggest margin of victory in their tournament football history. Five of the six goals were scored in the first half, with Harry Kane and John Stones sharing two apiece, on top of a Jesse Lingard strike, before Kane completed his hat-trick after the restart and Felipe Baloy pulled one back. The Three Lions are through to the last 16 of the World Cup with a game to spare.
3.02pmThat concludes Sports Mole's live text coverage of events from Nizhny Novgorod. An on-the-whistle report can be found by clicking here, while updates from the first of two Group H matches of the day can be followed here. Thanks for joining!
