England 2-0 Costa Rica

Marcus Rashford celebrates his goal against Costa Rica

Marcus Rashford scored a stunning goal as England beat Costa Rica 2-0 in their final World Cup warm-up game at Elland Road on Thursday.

Manchester United forward Rashford was England's standout player and beat Keylor Navas with a powerful dipping strike in the 13th minute.

Substitute Danny Welbeck made it 2-0 in the 76th minute in a game that England controlled, having made 10 changes from their 2-1 win over Nigeria on Saturday.

 

England now look ahead to their World Cup opener against Group G opponents Tunisia in Volgograd on June 18.

Manager Gareth Southgate might face a few tricky selection decisions ahead of the fixture after a largely encouraging display against Costa Rica.

As they did against Nigeria in their last outing, England - with Jack Butland in goal and Trent Alexander-Arnold making his international debut at right-back - dominated the first half.

 

The hosts controlled possession and took an early lead when Rashford fired in a brilliant strike from 25 yards out that flew over Navas.

The Real Madrid goalkeeper prevented Jamie Vardy making it 2-0 when he dived to smother his shot from eight yards out.

Butland was quiet at the other end and was only called into action to push away a shot from Johan Venegas in the 27th minute.

 

Otherwise Costa Rica rarely ventured forward as England finished a one-sided half with 70 per cent of the possession, and the positive and inventive Rashford the standout player on either side.

Harry Maguire saw a header cleared off the line after the break and Navas parried away a shot from Jordan Henderson.

 

Costa Rica improved slightly and Marco Urena's deflected effort was saved by Butland.

However, even though the tempo of the game slowed among a raft of substitutions, England grabbed a second with 14 minutes remaining when Welbeck headed in from Dele Alli's cross.