Skeptics might toss darts at the team. For example, only two of England’s six goals came from the run of play Sunday — as if that sort of thing matters, since set pieces play such a large role in big tournaments. In addition, the English defense has not exactly looked impenetrable, letting Tunisia draw even in the first match and allowing two easy chances for Panama early in Sunday’s game.

And in the 78th minute on Sunday, 37-year-old Felipe Baloy, a Panama reserve, even slipped into the penalty area to to get his foot on the other end of a free kick from 40 yards out to give Panama its first-ever goal at a World Cup.

But no team’s defense looks like a bulwark at this World Cup. That is the nature of the international game, since defense depends so much on teamwork and timing, and national teams only spend about 30 days together in any given year.

No one needed to look at a statistics sheet in either of England’s matches so far to surmise that both Panama and Tunisia are just not very good. Yet, it is not England’s fault that its draw included a gutsy, but undermanned, Tunisia team along with the first squad ever to qualify for the World Cup from Panama.

After England found the net just twice in 17 chances against Tunisia, Southgate said he was thrilled with the victory, even though England needed Kane’s stoppage-time goal to prevail. He said he enjoyed that game more than the massacre of Panama, because he enjoyed the tension. The former England international has been around long enough to know that most of the battle in soccer is creating quality chances, and if a team’s players are as world class as England’s are, eventually those attempts will start to hit the back of the net.

Now Southgate has decisions to make. Should he rest his starters and give reserves who have not played a match in several weeks a chance to play against Belgium, or should he keep his foot on the gas and try to win the group? It’s a luxurious choice for any manager to have after two World Cup matches, especially one coaching a team where the tension and the fear of failure is often at a fever pitch from the opening kick.

“We must enjoy this win,” Southgate said. “We must enjoy that we’ve qualified because it is not easy, no matter the opponent.”