Marcus Rashford was unaware that he had made his 50th cap for England after coming on as a substitute in the World Cup round of 16 win over Senegal.
The attacker came on as a 65th-minute sub in the 3-0 win on Sunday, making his 50th appearance for his country in doing so.
He made his Three Lions debut back in 2016, having represented his nation at various youth levels. The forward has 15 goals for his country.
“I didn’t actually know before the game that if I came on it would be my 50th, it goes so quick,” said Rashford, as reported by the Independent.
“These achievements are special achievements but everything is moving so fast that you don’t get the opportunity to properly celebrate them.”
Rashford wants 100 England caps
The 25-year-old first appeared for England in a Euro 2016 warm-up match against Australia in May of that year.
He scored the opener in that 2-1 victory after just three minutes, becoming the youngest English player to score on his international debut, and the third youngest overall.
He then made two appearances at Euro 2016, playing against Wales and Iceland, with the first game seeing him become England’s youngest ever player at the competition.
Rashford has been in and out of the setup in recent years, with his form for club and country taking a dip in recent times. But he has managed to turn that around this season, scoring eight goals for Manchester United in all competitions.
Such form saw him nail down a place in Gareth Southgate’s 26-man World Cup squad, and he has undoubtedly repaid the faith shown by his manager.
Rashford currently has three goals in Qatar, scoring his first in the opening 6-2 win against Iran. He followed this up with a double in the 3-0 win over Wales.
The forward now has his sights set on triple figures for appearances for his nation, and is confident that there will be plenty of opportunities for him in an England shirt in the coming years.
“I’m still quite young so I’ve definitely got an opportunity to reach 100 caps for my country and that would be an amazing achievement,” said Rashford.
Rashford confident of England success
The Man United man also has the belief that the Three Lions can win major trophies in the near future. England are into the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup, where they will face defending champions France.
The Three Lions made it to the semi-finals of the 2018 tournament, with Southgate guiding his side to the final of Euro 2020 not long after.
There was heartbreak for England on both occasions, but Rashford believes there is great potential among the current squad to really fight for silverware on the big stage.
“I feel like with the team and manager we’ve got and the age of everyone, we’ve got a great opportunity,” said Rashford.
“With this squad, maybe in the last two or three tournaments I’ve felt like if we play our football we have a good chance to go all the way.”
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