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Attendance: 41,064
Tunisia national football team
World Cup | Group Stage
Jun 18, 2018 at 7pm UK
 
England national football team

1-2

Sassi (35' pen.)
FT(HT: 1-1)
Kane (11', 90+1')

Gareth Southgate: 'Patient England deserved World Cup win over Tunisia'

Southgate: 'Patient England deserved win'
© Reuters
Gareth Southgate believes that England deserved their 2-1 win over Tunisia in their World Cup opener given their impressive collective performance and patience.

England manager Gareth Southgate has claimed that his charges deserved their 2-1 win over Tunisia thanks to their patient and controlled performance in both teams' World Cup opener.

The Three Lions took the lead through Harry Kane on 11 minutes but were made to pay for numerous missed chances when a contentious penalty decision saw Ferjani Sassi draw the Eagles of Carthage level on 35 minutes.

Just as it looked like England would be forced to share the spoils in Volgograd, captain Kane nodded home from Harry Maguire's flick-on in injury time to seal all three points in the Group G clash.

"I was happy of the way we kept playing even though the clock was running down," Southgate told BBC Sport. "We stayed patient, we didn't just throw the ball in the box. We deserved the win.

"We created so many clear cut chances, especially in the first half, and were in total control in the second half. We were strong on set plays all night. Even if we had drawn, we'd have been proud of the performance.

"We'll do well to make as many chances in a game again in this tournament. The movement, pace, control from the back with the ball was pleasing. We wore them down. Good teams score late goals – if you dominate the ball like that the opposition tire.

"It's difficult to highlight individuals as it was a collective performance. The squad have been brilliant. We got this result over the last three weeks, not just tonight. That's from everyone who worked so hard together."

England play Panama, who lost 3-0 to Belgium earlier on Monday, in their next Group G game on Sunday.

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England's Harry Kane celebrates scoring their first goal in the World Cup match against Tunisia on June 18, 2018
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Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Netherlands Netherlands32107
Q Senegal flag Senegal32016
3 Ecuador flag Ecuador31114
4 Qatar Qatar30030

Group B

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Q England flag England32107
Q United States USA31205
3 Iran Iran31023
4 Wales flag Wales30121

Group C

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Q Argentina Argentina32016
Q Poland Poland31114
3 Mexico Mexico31114
4 Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia31023

Group D

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Q France France32016
Q Australia Australia32016
3 Tunisia Tunisia31114
4 Denmark Denmark30121

Group E

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Q Japan Japan32016
Q Spain Spain31114
3 Germany Germany31114
4 Costa Rica flag Costa Rica31023

Group F

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Q Morocco Morocco32107
Q Croatia Croatia31205
3 Belgium Belgium31114
4 Canada Canada30030

Group G

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Q Brazil Brazil32016
Q Switzerland Switzerland32016
3 Cameroon flag Cameroon31114
4 Serbia Serbia30121

Group H

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Q Portugal Portugal32016
Q Republic of Korea South Korea31114
3 Uruguay flag Uruguay31114
4 Ghana flag Ghana31023


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