Rating the players as Southgate’s men cruise into World Cup quarter-finals

That all went splendidly, didn’t it? After a slightly dodgy opening half-hour, England ultimately eased into a World Cup quarter-final against France which is unlikely to be quite so stress-free.

But let’s not worry about that, yeah? Let’s at least enjoy a *sixth* knockout win at a major tournament for Gareth Southgate after England won precisely zero knockout games between 2006 and 2018.

Oh, and don’t forget 16 Conclusions.

JORDAN PICKFORD
Huge strong-handed save at 0-0 when things were looking decidedly dicey and fully earned his far quieter second half en route to a third clean sheet in a row. We had a chortle at Southgate being so grumpy about the “2” in a 6-2 win, but Pickford shared that grump and it’s certainly had an effect.

KYLE WALKER
Right back in a four feels like a pretty cushy gig for Walker, who has little of the attacking responsibility bestowed upon Shaw on the other flank, allowing him to just do his job with minimal fuss with his major contractual obligation apparently the occasional burst of pace whenever Maguire or Stones get themselves in one of their occasional predicaments. It’s not a bad life.

LUKE SHAW
Quietly having a very decent tournament, which is a relief all round because England do not have options at left-back. Only Foden made more than Shaw’s two key passes tonight, it says here.

HARRY MAGUIRE
Seemed to spend the entire first half hour giving the ball away, which we’ve given some serious thought and concluded is sub-optimal. Seemed to settle after getting his lovely big head on a cross or two, but those early jitters are not the sort of thing he or England can afford against Kylian Mbappe and his mates. It’s three clean sheets in a row, and in the end Maguire’s performance was basically fine. But we do still worry.

JOHN STONES
Stones wasn’t great in that opening half-hour either. Was he struggling because Maguire was struggling? Was it the other way round? For better or worse, these are two players now seemingly inextricably linked when they play together. He, like Maguire (obviously), was also in the end largely fine before making way for Eric Dier with 15 minutes remaining.

DECLAN RICE
He did a tackle, a clearance and an interception and had a 94.9% pass completion rate. Which in a way is all you need to know about what was an entirely Declan Rice midfield performance from Declan Rice. This, if you hadn’t already guessed, is a compliment. Just to be clear. A big…