Wayne Rooney unhappy with Thomas Tuchel decision on Harry Kane after England beat Panama

Wayne Rooney has questioned Thomas Tuchel's handling of Harry Kane after England beat Panama to finish top of their World Cup group.

The Three Lions booked their place in the knockout stages with a 2-0 victory, but Rooney was unhappy that Kane was left on the pitch until the 84th minute despite the result already being safe.

Kane made history in New Jersey by scoring England's second goal, heading home from Jude Bellingham's cross just five minutes after the Real Madrid star had opened the scoring.

The goal saw the Bayern Munich striker move past Gary Lineker to become England's outright leading goalscorer at World Cup finals.

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But Rooney believes Tuchel should have taken Kane off immediately after he scored, rather than keeping him on for almost another 20 minutes.

Speaking on BBC One, the former England captain warned that Kane has looked tired towards the end of previous tournaments and suggested Tuchel risks repeating an old mistake.

"In previous tournaments with Harry Kane, I think he has looked a little bit tired towards the end of tournaments," Rooney said.

"He came off in the 84th minute, I think the minute he scored and England were 2-0 up and the game is done, get him off.

"Even if it is 20 minutes left, you know in the last 20 minutes of games, that is when you get fatigued and that is when it takes the most out of you.

"We're in danger now of going into a World Cup where you have got Ronaldo, Messi, Mbappe, Harry Kane, Vini Jr, all trying to get the Golden Boot.

"We saw it with Southgate when he never took Kane off, I hope Tuchel learns from that and he gives him a rest when he can."

England had been made to work hard by Panama before Bellingham finally broke the deadlock in the second half.

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Tuchel's side were frustrated before half-time by a physical opponent, with Panama sitting deep and looking to threaten on the counter-attack.

Bellingham eventually found the breakthrough on 62 minutes, flicking the ball into the net from a corner before turning provider for Kane five minutes later.

The win means England progress as Group L winners and will face DR Congo in the Round of 32.

Tuchel admitted afterwards that the match had been a demanding test, but insisted England had done what was required.

"We did what was needed," he said.

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

"We were very aggressive. We had to be very careful with the counter-attacks because they're strong – we did well and deserved to win, but it was hard work."

The England boss also insisted his side will improve now the knockout stage has arrived.

"There's more to build on," he added. "You have to get so many details right. It's an aggressive approach that we take to defend one-on-one.

"The tournament starts again now in the knockouts.

"Now we collect our strengths and we build on what we have. The team spirit, fighting spirit, the belief, and we will step up.

"The bigger the games get, the bigger we will get."

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