England 3-0 Costa Rica: Gordon, Rice & Watkins on target to seal a big friendly win

Anthony Gordon made his case for a starting spot at the World Cup as he scored and assisted in England's 3-0 win over Costa Rica in their final warm-up match.

Match Report 

Despite kick-off being delayed for an hour due to stormy conditions in Orlando, England made light work of Costa Rica and head into their opening Group L game against Croatia next week on the back of two victories.

England needed just nine minutes to take the lead at Inter&Co Stadium, as Declan Rice swept a deflected shot into the bottom-right corner after Gordon had skipped beyond Shawn Johnson before cutting back for the Arsenal midfielder. 

The Three Lions' dominance continued and only a sensational fingertip stop from Patrick Sequeira kept Harry Kane's glancing header from Rice's teasing free-kick out of the net. 

Noni Madueke should have doubled England's lead 10 minutes before half-time after rounding Sequeira, but he somehow hit the post with the goal gaping before the lively Gordon thought he had won a penalty after being bundled over by Johnson, but the decision was overturned following a VAR review. 

But England were awarded a spot-kick in the 68th minute when Eberechi Eze's goal-bound shot was handled by Darril Araya, with Gordon stepping up to lash beyond substitute goalkeeper Abraham Madriz. 

Morgan Rogers then passed up a glorious opportunity to add to England's tally after firing wide when one-on-one, but it was his shot that led to England's third, as Madriz parried the strike straight to Ollie Watkins, who nodded in to seal the win.

Gordon doubles up as Anderson shines once again

Gordon has already completed an €80m (£69.3m) move to Barcelona from Newcastle United, a switch that Thomas Tuchel believes will only enhance the winger's development, and the England boss will be thrilled with the former Everton attacker's latest performance. 

His goal and assist here are as many goal contributions as he managed in his previous 18 appearances for England, while he also finished with team-high totals for touches in the opposition box (six) and dribbles (four), and Gordon proved too hot to handle for Costa Rica debutant Johnson.

While Gordon was perhaps fighting for a starting berth in next week's opener against Croatia, Elliot Anderson seems nailed on in midfield. No player had more touches (94), played more accurate passes (74), won more duels (10) and won possession more times (seven) than the Nottingham Forest man. 

Anderson's fine display came after it was reported that Manchester City had seen a reported £106m bid, rising up to £120m, rejected by Forest.

England's final pre-tournament outing was dominant from start to finish, though Tuchel will be hoping his players sharpen up in attack. Madueke and Rogers passed up big chances to add further gloss to the scoreline as the Three Lions finished with an expected goals (xG) total of 4.55 from their 27 shots to Costa Rica's 0.03 from their sole attempt. 

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

6' Match Event for England vs Costa Rica

9' GOAL! England 1-0 Costa Rica (Declan Rice)

22' Match Event for England vs Costa Rica

24' Highlight from England vs Costa Rica

36' Highlight from England vs Costa Rica

47' Match Event for England vs Costa Rica

48' Highlight from England vs Costa Rica

63' Highlight from England vs Costa Rica

68' Penalty Goal! England 2-0 Costa Rica (Anthony Gordon)

74' Match Event for England vs Costa Rica

76' Match Event for England vs Costa Rica

88' GOAL! England 3-0 Costa Rica

Line-ups

England XI: Kane, Pickford, Stones, Rice, Elliot Anderson, Ngoyo, Reece James, Gordon, Madueke, Bellingham, Nico O'Reilly

Subs: Henderson, Burn, Ivan Toney, Dean Henderson, Ollie Watkins, Rashford, Eberechi Eze, Guehi, Morgan Rogers, Spence, Tino Livramento, Saka, James Trafford, Quansah, Mainoo

Costa Rica XI: Patrick Sequeira, Aarón Salazar, Fernán Faerron, Andrey Soto, Manfred Ugalde, Orlando Galo, Carlos Mora, Darril Araya, Josimar Alcócer, Shawn Johnson, Jeyland Mitchell

Subs: Luis Flores, Cristopher Núñez, Orlando Sinclair, Haxzel Quirós, Doryan Rodríguez, Abraham Madriz, Bayron Mora, Joseth Peraza, John Ruiz