After leaving Manchester United on loan in the winter of 2025, Marcus Rashford has forced his way back into the England squad. Recall to England squad Rashford played for Aston Villa on loan for the second half of the 2024-2025 season after falling out with then Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim. He then spent the entirety of the 2025/2026 season on loan at FC Barcelona, where he won a La Liga title. The attacker scored and assisted a total of 28 goals in all competitions. Consequently, it was thought that Barcelona would sign him permanently, but they declined this option, and now it appears he will return to pre-season with Manchester United after the World Cup. Rashford started the World Cup on the bench for England but scored in the opening match against Croatia. He made the starting line-up in the last group game against Panama and also featured versus the Democratic Republic of Congo in the last 32 tie. Media reaction Rashford was substituted after 60 minutes with England losing 0-1 to Congo, before his replacement Anthony Gordon created two goals for Harry Kane to win the match late on. The national media were less than impressed by the Manchester United man’s efforts, and The Guardian gave him a brutal 3/10. The paper reported, “summed up England’s awful start by miscontrolling ball out of play. Last contribution was a terrible cross.” Sky Sports gave him a 5/10 and claimed that he “spent a large part of the first half letting passes slip past him, but did have a few good chances, including an effort cleared off the line and hitting the side net. Replaced in the 61st minute.” The BBC was also a tad more measured in their analysis when they asserted, “flashes of the quality that we know Rashford has but not enough and the performance became increasingly desperate as England chased an equaliser.” Finally, TalkSPORT tore into Rashford and gave him a 2/10 score as they were left deeply disappointed by his effort. The Independent was a lot kinder though in their review and gave him a 6/10, praising his ability to drive at the Congo defence and to bring much-needed verticality to the side. Rashford will certainly hope to leave a better impression when England take on Mexico in the early hours of Monday morning BST. Marcus Rashford stats vs DR Congo Player Statistics Goals0 Expected goals (xG)0.41 Assists0 Expected assists (xA)0.04 Key passes0 Crosses (accurate)4 (0) Accurate passes27/27 (100%) Passes in opposition half (acc.)23/23 (100%) Passes in own half (acc.)4/4 (100%) Long balls (accurate)1/1 (100%) Total shots3 Shots on target1 Shots blocked0 Big chances missed2 Touches43 Unsuccessful touches3 Dribbles (successful)1 (1) Was fouled1 Possession lost8 Total carrying distance150.5 m Carries13 Progressive carries4 Total progression89.7 m Progressive carrying distance91.6 m Longest progressive carry36.9 m Def. contributions2 Tackles (won)1 (1) Interceptions0 Clearances1 Blocked shots0 Recoveries1 Ground duels (won)6 (3) Aerial duels (won)1 (1) Fouls2 Dribbled past1 Source: Sofascore Featured image Michael Steele via Getty Images The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Alex Browne Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Alex has a Master’s degree from Queen’s University Belfast and La Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain. Having lived in the country since 2011, Alex is The Peoples Person’s Spanish football expert and is fluent in both Spanish and Catalan. He dreams of witnessing a United captain triumphantly hoisting the Premier League and Champions League trophy in the air once more.
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