Marcus Rashford pays tribute to friend who died two days ago with World Cup celebration

30 November 2022, 08:34 | Updated: 30 November 2022, 08:46

Marcus Rashford shared the reason behind his World Cup celebration. Picture: Getty Images

By Naomi Bartram

England star Marcus Rashford opened up about his poignant goal celebration during the game against Wales on Tuesday night.

Football fans would have seen Marcus Rashford celebrate his first goal against Wales last night with a poignant tribute.

The England forward scored a free-kick against Wales keeper Danny Ward and immediately kneeled down and pointed to the sky with his eyes closed.

Speaking after the game, 25-year-old Marcus revealed he did it in honour of friend Garfield Hayward who sadly died just days before the match.

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"Unfortunately I lost one of my friends a couple of days ago,” he said.

Marcus Rashford celebrating his World Cup goal. Picture: Getty Images

"He's had quite a long battle with cancer so I'm pleased that I managed to score for him.

"He's always been a big supporter of mine, he was just a great person that I'm pleased to have come into my life really."

England ended up winning 3-0 against Wales after Marcus scored again and Phil Foden made it three.

This comes after Jack Grealish, 27, made a young fan's dreams come true when he celebrated his World Cup goal with a dance.

Finlay, who is a huge fan of the Manchester City player, got to meet Jack recently and asked him to wave his arms in a 'worm' style if he scored a goal.

Marcus Rashford opened up about his friend passing away. Picture: Instagram

The football player said he would, and last Monday when he scored against Iran, Jack fulfilled his promise to the boy who suffers from cerebral palsy.

Jack's sister, 19-year-old Holly, also has cerebral palsy, making his connection to Finlay even more important.

England ended up winning the World Cup game against Iran with a final score of 6-2.

Following the game, Jack shared a picture on his Twitter feed of him doing the dance and captioned it with: "For you Finlay."

Finlay first wrote to Jack with a letter which read: "I'm a huge Man City and England fan. I have cerebral palsy and I saw that your sister has cerebral palsy too.

"I love the way you are really good with your sister, you really get it. You always have her there with you."