Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane scored early in the second half, lifting England over Panama 2-0 on Saturday in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and into what appears to be a more favorable bracket for the knockout phase.

On a rainy afternoon before a vocal pro-England crowd that made MetLife Stadium seem like Wembley, Panama held the European power scoreless through a first half when neither team mounted threats and Kane had 10 touches, the fewest of any player.

Bellingham put the Three Lions ahead in the 62nd minute from Bukayo Saka’s corner kick. Held in bear hug by Jorge Gutiérrez at the top of the 6-yard box, Bellingham stuck out his left leg and stabbed the ball past goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera for his third World Cup goal, his second this year.

Five minutes later, Bellingham crossed from the left flank and Kane outjumped Andrés Andrade to head the ball in for his 82nd international goal. Kane became England’s record World Cup scorer with his 11th goal, one more than Gary Lineker.

England finished the group with two wins and a draw for seven points. The English play their Round of 32 match Wednesday in Atlanta, likely against Senegal or Congo. The team that advances faces Mexico or Ecuador in Mexico City.

If the Three Lions had dropped to second, they probably would have faced Colombia or Portugal.

Panama went 0-3 for the second time and joined Iraq, Haiti, El Salvador, Canada and Mexico as teams that lost their first six World Cup matches.

José Fajardo put the ball in the net for the Los Canaleros in second-half stoppage time, but was called for offside.

England, which won its only World Cup at home in 1966, reached the knockout rounds for the seventh time in eight World Cups.

Croatia beats Ghana

Croatia earned a spot in the knockout round, getting goals from Nikola Vlašic and Luka Sucic to beat Ghana 2-1 on Saturday in Philadelphia.

Ghana had already clinched a spot in the round of 32 for the first time since 2010.

Vlašic headed home Luka Modric’s corner in the 83rd minute to score the winner and put Croatia back in contention after it finished third in 2022. The win means Croatia finished second in Group L.

Sucic scored in the 31st minute for Croatia on an absolute rocket from outside the box for his second career international goal.

Derrick Luckassen scored the equalizer that — after a brief review — sent thousands of fans wearing yellow into a frenzy. Luckassen found the bottom right corner in the 73rd minute to make it 1-1 and the first of the five group stage games in Philadelphia where both teams scored.

Ghana goalie Benjamin Asare briefly kept it a tie game on a diving stop off the top of his hand that sent the ball over the net but failed only a minute later to stop Vlašic.

Vlašic wagged his tongue and ran toward his teammates with outstretched arms in celebration.

Sucic helped Croatia take a 1-0 lead into halftime in a game where a couple of near misses prevented it from building a more comfortable lead. Nikola Vlašic bonked one of the posts earlier in the half, and Modric’s cross on a free kick into the box was headed over the bar by Marin Pongracic.

Ghana seemed poised to tie the game late in the half when Antoine Semenyo beat his man and fired a shot that slid across the Kentucky bluegrass and went just wide of the left post.