By Samuel Opio
England striker Harry Kane surged ahead of Ronaldo and Romelu Lukaku in the race for the World Cup golden boot after hitting a hat-trick in a 6-1 demolition of Panama on Sunday.
The Tottenham star scored twice from the penalty spot before deflecting in a Ruben Loftus-Cheek drive with his heel to make it five goals from two games as England sealed safe passage to the last 16.
“I’m very proud. Not many players get to score a hat-trick in the World Cup,” Kane said.
Gareth Southgate’s side lead Belgium at the top of Group G by virtue of having received one less yellow card going into their showdown in Kaliningrad on June 28.
Mohamed Salah is likely to start Egypt’s final match against Saudi Arabia on Monday in a fixture between two eliminated sides in Volgograd.
But Egypt’s 45-year-old goalkeeper Essam El Hadary may have to wait to come off the bench to set a record as the oldest player ever to appear at a World Cup.
He would smash the age record set by Faryd Mondragon in Brazil four years ago.
The Colombia goalkeeper was 43 years and three days old when he played against Japan in a 4-1 group stage victory.
