It was an incredible weekend in England with some fantastic goals flying in from all angles, and luckily for England a number of the brilliant finishes came from players eager to cement their places for the World Cup squad.

England update

England’s strikers showed they are on top form after Wayne Rooney and Darren Bent both scored twice on Sunday.

Rooney produced two superb finishes, one an exquisite chip, as Manchester United beat Newcastle 2-1, while Bent hit a double in Charlton’s 2-1 victory over Middlesbrough.

Everton striker James Beattie is also making a late bid for inclusion in the England squad - and scored a stunning goal as well as a penalty in his side’s 3-0 victory over Fulham.

Everton assistant boss Alan Irvine said: "Sven probably knows at this stage who his strikers are going to be but James has to make sure that he’s ready to change Sven’s mind or take a place if it comes up."

There was plenty of debate in midweek about Arsenal fielding a team void of Englishmen in their excellent Champions League triumph over Real Madrid.

But on Saturday Sven-Goran Eriksson watched a Premiership match with 10 England internationals on show! He was at Stamford Bridge for Chelsea’s dramatic 2-1 victory over Spurs and saw Shaun Wright-Phillips start the game and set up Ghana midfielder Michael Essien’s goal.

But England goalkeeper Paul Robinson was also outstanding, making several stunning saves, and Jermaine Jenas was also on target for the visitors.

Michael Carrick, Ledley King, Michael Dawson, Frank Lampard, John Terry, Joe Cole and Jermain Defoe contributed to an excellent game but it was a Frenchman, William Gallas, who stole the headlines with a stunning injury-time winner.

Form update

Brazilian striker Ronaldo has endured a difficult week. He was criticised for his performance for Real Madrid against Arsenal - and then he missed a penalty in Madrid’s goalless draw against Valencia at the weekend.

But the French players seem to be on form, especially at Lyon where midfielder Florent Malouda scored twice to beat Metz 4-0.

The Portuguese are on the up, too. Tiago scored twice for Lyon against PSV in midweek and Simao enhanced his ever-growing reputation with his goal at Anfield in Benfica’s Champions League victory over Liverpool.

Injury update

Sol Campbell is making good progress as he recovers from injury and off-field problems - and will play in a practice match on Tuesday. Arsenal teammate Gilberto expects him to be ready for the World Cup.

Gilberto said: "He's coming back, he's all right now, he has put everything in the past now and he wants a new challenge. I think he will be fit for the World Cup."

But England’s Group B rivals Sweden suffered a set-back when Freddie Ljungberg hobbled off injured after only 10 minutes of Arsenal’s game against Liverpool on Sunday.

Arsenal manager Aresene Wenger only expects him to be out for a week.

Quotes

Brazil coach Carlos Aberto Parreira says his team should not be outright favourites for the World Cup: "There are seven or eight teams that could win without it being a shock."

West Ham left-back Paul Konchesky is ready to cancel a £2000 holiday to Dubai if he is called into England’s World Cup squad: "I’ve booked a holiday to Dubai but I’d prefer to be going to Germany. If it happens I’m not bothered about losing the deposit!"

Is there any World Cup news that we have missed from the weekend? Please let us know what players you saw in the last few days that you feel could make their mark in Germany, simple click here