England fans in Abingdon enjoyed an afternoon watching the national team breeze past Panama in their second game of the World Cup.

Supporters basked in beer gardens and packed into pubs across the town for the 1pm kick-off to see The Three Lions comfortably beat the Central Americans 6-1.

There were jubilant scenes at the Kings Head and Bell and The Grapes in Abingdon town centre with the Oxford Mail joining fans to watch goal after goal pour past Panama keeper, Penedo.

Chants of ‘it’s coming home’ rang out after the victory which makes it two wins out of two for England.

A hat-trick from Harry Kane, a brace from John Stones, and a sublime strike from Jesse Lingard put England joint-top of Group G, with one more game to play. 

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And as England booked their place in the last 16, confidence among fans was growing.

Watching the match in the Kings Head and Bell were friends Simon Hicks, Tony Green and Bernie Wallis, from Abingdon.


After seeing the third goal from Lingard the trio were confident of England progressing far in the tournament.

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Mr Green said: “I think we could do well.
“There’s some big teams gone out and a lot of big teams haven’t been playing as well as I would expect. 


“It looks like you’ve got the best player in the world [Lionel Messi] going home too.”
Mr Hicks, a Sunderland fan, added: “I’m a lot more confident now.


“I think there’s been much less expectation on the World Cup this time, which is probably a good thing.


“This is the best performance so far.”
Fans had also packed in to The Grapes to watch the match, with fans undeterred by the early kick-off on a Sunday. 


Matthew Hill, from Abingdon, was watching the match with friends and was in buoyant mood afterwards.

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He said: “I think it’s brilliant. It’s great. 
“I feel we have got the spirit of Euro 96.
“The sun’s out, the bars are full, the football’s good... it’s coming home.”


He added: “I wasn’t as confident before the tournament but then I’ve watched England a lot of times.


“I’ve never seen this team spirit; they all look happy.”


Joe Thomas, also watching in The Grapes gave his predictions for the rest of the tournament.


He said: “I predict England and Germany in the final; Marcus Rashford to bang in a hat-trick and we beat them 4-0.”


Asked if his confidence had been increased by England’s performance against Panama, Mr Thomas had a more optimistic response than his fellow supporter: “I’m English, we always think we’re going to win.”