Marcus Rashford was raised in Wythenshawe, in south Manchester, and has only ever played professional soccer for Manchester United. Supporters of the club adore him, and, when he is performing at his ravishing best, the fans sing “Rashford is Red” in his honor. The chant:
The song wasn’t heard much last season, when Rashford—hampered by injuries and in poor form—seemed to lose not only his touch but some of his hunger. He didn’t always start for Manchester United, and he was dropped from the England squad. He looked miserable.
Since the new Premiership season began in August, however, the chorus has reverberated around Old Trafford more often. Under Manchester United’s new manager, Erik ten Hag, Rashford has regained his smile, his speed, and his eye for goal. When he doesn’t have the ball, he is pressing opponents with his trademark zeal. Gareth Southgate, the England manager, took note of these improvements, and included Rashford in his World Cup squad. In England’s first match, against Iran, he came on as a substitute. The announcer had barely finished calling his name, when—with his first three touches of the ball—he scored.
Following England’s torpid, goalless draw against the U.S.A., Southgate’s team wanted a win against its final group opponent, Wales, to insure it topped the group, but a draw and even a narrow loss would have been enough to qualify. (Wales’s route to qualification was much more difficult: it needed to win, and for the U.S.A. and Iran to draw; or, Wales needed to beat England by four or more goals, which it had never done in a hundred and three previous matches.) The contest wasn’t about only the dynamics of the World Cup. It was a local derby, played on foreign soil, and the first time two British nations have faced each other in a World Cup. The tournament points on offer were paramount, but they were not the only reason both teams wanted desperately to win.
Many commentators encouraged Southgate to make changes to his starting team. Rashford had not started the U.S.A. match, but there wasn’t a loud clamor for him to be included. (Phil Foden, the puckish Manchester City forward, was the name on everybody’s lips.) In the end, Southgate made several changes from the team that played against the U.S.A. Foden and Rashford joined Harry Kane in attack. Jordan Henderson of Liverpool bolstered the midfield. Kyle Walker would start at right back.
Even during the anthems, the Welsh were a little off. Their fans and players raced ahead of the music to their magnificent hymn, “Land of My Fathers.” They played with no real fluency, either. In the first half, the ball rarely reached their star player, Gareth Bale, and they managed only one genuine attempt at goal, in the fifth minute of stoppage time. England, on the other hand, looked smart. The English front line harried Wales high up the pitch with an intensity that would test most teams at this World Cup. Rashford had a wonderful chance to score in the tenth minute, following a clever ball from Kane, but he was denied by a good save from the Welsh goalkeeper Danny Ward. Another promising move in the thirty-eighth minute—punctuated by the most eye-catching piece of skill in the match, a backheel pass from Jude Bellingham—finished when Foden shot over the bar. Still, Wales defended stoutly, and the half ended 0–0.
In the second half, England caught fire. A run from Foden—who was excellent throughout the match—drew a foul on the edge of the Welsh box. Rashford buried the free kick past the flailing arms of Ward: 1–0. A minute later, Rashford won the ball back for England in a dangerous area. He fed Kane, who drilled a low cross to Foden, who scored: 2–0. In the other group match, the U.S.A. was beating Iran 1–0. Every path for Wales to qualify had seemingly closed. The only question now, with England rampant, was whether the Welsh players could summon the energy to salvage some pride, and perhaps a goal.
They could not, despite the urging of their wonderful fans, who were decked in red and yellow bucket hats, and who only briefly lost their voice. In the sixty-eighth minute of the match, Kalvin Phillips—a substitute for Declan Rice—found Rashford on another lightning run. Rashford controlled the ball, cut inside onto his left foot, and fired straight at and through Ward: 3–0. Match over. When Rashford was substituted in the seventy-fifth minute for Jack Grealish, he received a rowdy ovation from the many thousands of England supporters in the stadium, then a hug from his manager.
In the final sixteen knockout match on Sunday, England will face Senegal—a dangerous opponent. Before that occasion, English sportswriters and broadcasters will argue noisily about the players that Southgate should select in his starting eleven. The name of one man—dismissed by some commentators last year, and not universally backed to even make the England squad for this World Cup—will now be written on many team sheets. He comes from Wythenshawe, and he loves to fight. 
World Cup 2022: Marcus Rashford Gets His Smile Back
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