Barcelona’s new signing Anthony Gordon
shone for England in a 3-0 win over Costa Rica on Wednesday in a final World Cup warm-up for Thomas Tuchel’s side.Handed the nod over Marcus Rashford, Gordon was in from the start and set up the opening goal for Declan Rice after just nine minutes with some good work down the left flank.
The winger raced down the left and then cut the ball back to the Arsenal midfielder to sweep home and make it 1-0.
Gordon also thought he’d won a penalty just before half-time
for his side but it was ruled out after a VAR review. It was a decision that left Tuchel on the sidelines raging.
The Barcelona new boy did get on the scoresheet in the second half from the penalty spot. Costa Rica substitute Joseth Peraza was adjudged to have handled the ball and Gordon made no mistake from the spot.
Jude Bellingham had appeared set to take the kick, but Tuchel explained after the game why the coaching staff called on Gordon to take it.
“We just had a lot of subs and it was not clear the order of the takers. Anthony was the second taker (behind Kane). This is normally on the wall. It was not on the wall here,” he said.
“So it was a bit of a miscommunication, but it was our responsibility, so we needed to do it verbally, no problem.”
Gordon will now be hoping he’s done enough to play his way into the starting XI for England’s first game of World Cup 2026 against Croatia.
