DOHA, Qatar (AP) — If England need some extra motivation in their final World Cup group game against Wales on Tuesday, all they need is to watch a video from 2016.
Pictures of Wales players celebrating wildly when their UK neighbor was knocked out of the European Championship after losing to Iceland went viral at the time.
England was humiliated. Wales, who lost 2-1 to the Three Lions in the group stage but reached the semi-final, were jubilant.
A lot has changed since then, a point scored by England striker Marcus Rashford ahead of the Group B match.
“I don’t think it takes a genius to see how we’ve improved since 2016. To me, it feels like a completely different team. We have come a long way. We have learned a lot about ourselves along the way,” he said.
“In 2016, if you look at that performance when we got knocked out of the Euros, it’s a million miles from where we are now. You can’t really compare the two situations.”
That sentiment is backed up by England’s tournament performances over the past four years, reaching the World Cup semi-finals in 2018 and last year’s Euro final, which they lost on penalties to Italy.
England are among the favorites to succeed in Qatar and only need a point against Wales to guarantee qualification for the round of 16. Depending on the goal difference, England could still progress even if they lose that match.
For Wales, the risk is much higher.
Wales, bottom of the group with a point from their first two matches, must win to have any chance of reaching the round of 16 in their first World Cup since 1958.
“That’s the pain right now,” midfielder Joe Allen said. “It’s a feeling of missed opportunity in the first two games.”
“Our focus now shifts to being on the training ground, working and preparing for the performance of our lives against England,” he added.
Wales will look to Gareth Bale for inspiration if they want to win against England for the first time since 1984.
The Los Angeles FC forward entered the tournament with just one game since early October and has seen work on his performances.
Meanwhile, England’s Harry Kane is yet to score at this World Cup and was off pace in his team’s 0-0 draw with the United States after hurting his ankle in the previous game against Iran.
The 2018 Golden Boot winner is just three goals away from surpassing Wayne Rooney’s total of 53 to become his country’s all-time leading goalscorer.
“He’s enjoying his football,” Rashford said. “But for any striker you want to be scoring goals. I’m sure if he keeps doing what he’s doing, he’ll score.”
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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
