Panama’s manager appeared to tell Gareth Southgate to keep the score at five

Hernan Dario Gomez approached Southgate before the second half

Darragh Murphy

Panama’s manager appeared to tell Gareth Southgate to keep the score at five

Well, that escalated quickly.

England have guaranteed a place in the knockout stages of the World Cup after coasting to a 6-1 victory over Panama on Sunday afternoon. Gareth Southgate’s side ran riot in the opening half, scoring five unanswered goals against a side who looked more focused on grappling than getting on the scoresheet themselves.

After testing supporters’ nerves in their opening game, England made their second Group G outing a much more enjoyable watch for their fans as they sauntered their way to victory.

A hat-trick from Harry Kane, a brace from John Stones and a wonder strike from Jesse Lingard means that the final group game against Belgium is essentially a first-place play-off.

Viewers couldn’t help but catch a glimpse of a strange conversation which took place as the players emerged from the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium tunnel after half-time.

Before the second half kicked off, Panama manager Hernan Dario Gomez wandered over to the English dugout for a chat with his opposite number.

Gomez showed Southgate an open palm with as if to make the gesture for “five is enough” and the England boss acknowledged the comment by mirroring the motion.

Now nobody knows what the conversation was actually about and England didn’t show their opponents much mercy after the break as Kane secured his hat-trick and sent his side into the last 16 of the World Cup but Panama did get themselves a goal thanks to a late consolation courtesy of Felipe Baloy.

Panama manager asking Southgate to go easy on him second half looool

— . (@DaleBrogan) June 24, 2018

Panama manager appeared to be asking Gareth Southgate to go easy on his lades there, just before 2nd half kick off 🙂

— JSoccer Magazine (@JSoccerMagazine) June 24, 2018