This will be the first ever senior international between England and Senegal. It will be the 13th time that England’s first ever match against a nation has come in the World Cup; the Three Lions lost just one of the previous 12 such instances (W7 D4), a 0-1 defeat to USA in 1950.
Senegal have alternated between winning (3) and not winning (D1 L2) in their six World Cup meetings with European opponents, losing 2-0 against Netherlands in their most recent game (MD1 of this tournament).
England have never lost in seven previous World Cup matches against African opposition (W4 D3); their only previous such game in the knockout stages came against Cameroon in the 1990 quarterfinal, winning 3-2 after extra-time, with their goals coming from David Platt and two Gary Lineker penalties.
African nations have lost eight of their nine World Cup knockout round games against European sides, with the exception being Senegal's 2-1 win over Sweden in the round of 16 in 2002. However, in all competitions, England have never lost against an African side in their history (W14 D6).
England are looking to reach the quarterfinal in consecutive editions of the World Cup for the first time since 2002/2006 – the Three Lions have been eliminated from just two of their seven round of 16 ties at the tournament, doing so against Germany in 2010 (1-4) and via penalty shootout against Argentina in 1998.
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Senegal have reached the knockout stages of the World Cup for the second time, previously doing so in their first appearance in 2002 (quarterfinal). Courtesy of beating Qatar and Ecuador in the group stages, Senegal have won consecutive World Cup matches for the first time.
England have scored nine goals in their three games at the 2022 World Cup so far – only in 2018 (12) and 1966 (11) have they scored more in a single edition of the tournament.
Since beating France 1-0 in their first ever World Cup match in 2002, Senegal have conceded at least once in each of their last 10 games in the competition.
Each of Senegal's last 10 goals at the World Cup have been scored by different players (including own goals). Their five different scorers at this tournament is the most they've had in a single World Cup edition.
Harry Kane provided three assists in the group stages, the first England player to provide as many in a single World Cup tournament since David Beckham in 2002. No Englishman has ever provided four on record in a single edition of a major tournament before (EURO and World Cup, since 1966).
Marcus Rashford was England's top scorer in the group stages, netting three goals in just 107 minutes of action (one every 36 minutes). He could be the first Manchester United player to score four goals at a major tournament for the Three Lions.