Phil Foden set to start for England against Senegal in huge World Cup 2022 last-16 encounter – report

Foden is believed to be in line to keep his place in the side after scoring in the 3-0 win over Wales and impressing in the second half.

Foden played just 19 minutes for the Three Lions in their opening group game against Iran, when they cruised to a 6-2 victory, and didn’t feature at all in the drab 0-0 draw with the USA – leading to a backlash over his omission.

Meanwhile, in a separate report, Sky Sports believe Bukayo Saka will be in from the start. The Arsenal forward started both the Iran and USA matches, scoring a brace in the former.

What that means for Marcus Rashford is unclear, despite the Manchester United man starting and scoring twice in the win over Wales.

Speaking about the luxury of options in his forward areas, Southgate said in his pre-match press conference: “It’s a good position to be in. You want your players in confident mood and our forward players are.

“Of course, you want to try to make the best possible decision, but in some respects I’m not sure there’s a right or a wrong. Whichever players we start with, we’re going to need the bench, we need the strength.

“They all offer different attributes and it’s just trying to get the balance of the team right and make the best possible decisions.

“But for us great that we’ve got the whole squad fit and available, feeling good about themselves, but with that nice balance of knowing how difficult it was to get through this round in our last two tournaments.

‘We know the quality of the opposition, but we’ve got belief in ourselves as well.”

Sunday’s match against Senegal will be the first meeting between the two nations at international level.

It is also the reigning African champions’ first match in the knockout stages of a World Cup since the 2002 finals, when they reached the quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, England head into this intriguing clash as the joint highest scorers from the group stage alongside Spain, with nine goals.

Whoever emerges victorious will know their potential quarter-final opponents prior to kick-off, as France take on Poland in the day’s first last-16 match at 15:00 GMT.