Marcus Rashford, Danny Welbeck lead England to win over Costa Rica in final World Cup warm-up

England have beaten Costa Rica 2-0 in their final warm-up game before heading to Russia for the World Cup.

Trent Alexander-Arnold made his debut starting at wing-back with Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope coming off the bench in the second half to make his first appearance.

Rashford gave England the lead in style in the 13th minute before Welbeck doubled the lead in the second half.

England were in the ascendancy from the start, and it was the Manchester United man who was central to the early attacks. Rashford drove forward early on but the ball was diverted behind by Arsenal’s Joel Campbell.

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The opener came shortly after, though. Rashford picked the ball up 25 yards from goal before firing the ball into the top corner past goalkeeper Keylor Navas.

Jamie Vardy nearly made it two 10 minutes later but his shot was well saved after Harry Maguire’s knockdown.

Costa Rica almost drew level on the half-hour mark when Johan Venegas’ strike from 20 yards was deflected over by Jack Butland.

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The match petered out slightly in the second half, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek shooting wide from long range and Trent Alexander-Arnold being crowded out when out wide in a good position.

Nick Pope looked assured when called upon and Danny Rose should have done better with a volley.

Welbeck’s goal came 14 minutes from time, heading in from six yards after Dele Alli found him unmarked in the penalty area.

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Christian Bolanos and Yeltsin Tejeda both fired over in the closing stages to confirm England’s clean sheet.

England are expected to travel to Russia next week ahead of their opening game against Tunisia on June 18.

Cover Photo: FIFA World Cup 2014 by Mariya Butd used under license by CC BY 2.0.

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