Inggris Juarai Grup L Piala Dunia 2026 Usai Tekuk Panama

Tim nasional Inggris berhasil memastikan posisi puncak Grup L Piala Dunia 2026 setelah menundukkan Panama dengan skor 2-0 di Stadion MetLife, New Jersey, pada Sabtu, 27 Juni 2026. Hasil ini membuat skuad asuhan Thomas Tuchel mencatatkan rekor tak terkalahkan di fase grup dalam dua edisi turnamen berturut-turut.

Inggris mengemas total tujuh poin di fase grup, menyamai rekor poin tertinggi mereka pada edisi 2006 dan 2022. Keberhasilan memuncaki klasemen ini menghindarkan posisi Tiga Singa dari jalur babak gugur yang lebih berat melawan tim-tim besar seperti Portugal atau Kolombia di babak 32 besar.

Manajer Inggris, Thomas Tuchel, menyatakan kepuasannya atas kerja keras anak asuhnya dalam menghadapi perlawanan fisik yang ketat dari Panama.

"We did what was needed. It was what we expected, a tough match against a physical opponent, difficult to score. We were the only team to create this amount of chances and score twice against them.

We were very aggressive. We had to be very careful with the counter-attacks because they're strong. We did well overall and deserved to win, but it was a hard piece of work." kata Thomas Tuchel kepada ITV.

Tuchel juga memberikan pujian khusus atas kontribusi krusial dari Jude Bellingham yang menjadi motor serangan tim sepanjang pertandingan.

"A good performance again. We're happy that he's in this kind of shape. But everyone did what they needed to do. Jude was a big part of it." ujar Thomas Tuchel.

Selain itu, sang manajer memberikan pembaruan mengenai kondisi kebugaran para pemainnya, termasuk keputusan taktis untuk menarik keluar Declan Rice demi menghindari kartu kuning kedua.

"Rice, no problem. With Declan we had the chance to take him completely out of the match, to not concede a second yellow, which helps us a lot." tutur Thomas Tuchel.

Mengenai kondisi Jarell Quansah yang terpaksa ditarik keluar pada babak kedua karena cedera, Tuchel mengaku masih harus memantau perkembangan sang bek lebih lanjut.

"Jarrell, I don't know, he had to go off injured. So we need to see. But three days and then the next match in four days is not a problem. We love that and we're good at that." ucap Thomas Tuchel.

Di sisi lain, Jude Bellingham yang tampil gemilang dengan sumbangan satu gol dan satu assist memberikan apresiasi tinggi kepada kapten tim, Harry Kane.

"I think it was just a good combination of play, and to give it to Harry again, who just continues to raise his level, is incredible." kata Jude Bellingham kepada ITV.

Gelandang Real Madrid tersebut menilai dedikasi tinggi serta kualitas yang ditunjukkan Kane di dalam lapangan sangat krusial bagi kepemimpinan skuad Inggris.

"It's everything he deserves. You see the effort that he puts in as a captain, you see how he leads us. His quality speaks for itself, he's the best." ujar Jude Bellingham.