Marcus Rashford explains the reason behind his emotional World Cup goal celebration against Wales

2 December, 2022

England star Marcus Rashford is enjoying a glorious period of form right now. He has scored three goals already for his national side during the ongoing FIFA World Cup, including a brace of goals against Wales on Tuesday night.

The match ended up being a walk in the park for the Three Lions who bulldozed past their opponents to secure a comfortable 3-0 victory at the Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium in Qatar. While Rashford scored twice, Manchester City’s Phil Foden scored the other goal as England topped their group  with seven points on their way to the Round of 16 stage. 

The Manchester United player broke the deadlock in the game and opened the scoring for England with a brilliant free-kick. Rashford found the back of the net in the 50th minute to put his side ahead on the night. The goal meant a lot to the 25-year-old who kneeled down and pointed to the sky while celebrating the goal.

When asked about his emotional goal celebration, Rashford told New York Post, “Unfortunately, I lost one of my friends a couple of days ago. He’s had quite a long battle with cancer, so I’m pleased that I managed to score for him. He’s always been a big supporter of mine; he was just a great person that I’m pleased to have come into my life really.”

The second goal of the night came from another England youngster Phil Foden. Jude Bellingham played the ball through to Harry Kane who slammed a delicious cross across the face of the goal. Foden arrived at the far post to tuck it home from close range and extend England’s lead to two.

The contest was virtually over when England pulled three clear and put Wales out of their misery. Rashford got into the box with a darting run and made use of deft footwork to fool defenders and finished with a tame shot from his left which Welsh goalkeeper Danny Ward made a mess of and deflected into the net.

Rashford has now grabbed three goals for his 

country at the FIFA World Cup in as many games. He is the joint leading goal-scorer in the competition along with Cody Gakpo, Kylian Mbappe, and Enner Valencia.