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Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford’s World Cup campaign has not unfolded as expected. The England international entered this summer’s global tournament following an impressive loan spell with Barcelona.

After being deemed surplus to requirements at Old Trafford, the 28-year-old joined Barcelona on a season-long loan last summer and quickly revived his career. Under Hansi Flick’s management, Rashford became a standout performer, scoring 14 goals and providing 14 assists in 49 appearances across all competitions.

Although Barcelona decided not to activate the €30 million buy option included in his contract, Manchester United remain eager to sell him in the upcoming transfer window. The club had hoped that a strong showing at the 2026 World Cup would help facilitate a permanent move, but Rashford’s performances so far have been mixed.

Rashford made an impact from the bench in England’s opening group match against Croatia, scoring the final goal in a 4-2 victory. However, that contribution was not enough to earn him a starting place in the next match against Ghana.

England’s performance against the Black Stars was underwhelming, and even though Rashford came off the bench again, he was unable to replicate his earlier success. He was, however, handed his first start of the tournament in England’s final group-stage fixture against Panama over the weekend.

Rashford began the game brightly but struggled to make a decisive impact as England relied on Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane to secure a 2-0 win. The Manchester United attacker lost possession 20 times and did not complete a successful dribble, yet club legend Rio Ferdinand argued that statistics did not tell the full story.

Speaking on his podcast, Ferdinand elaborated on why he was encouraged by Rashford’s display against Panama. He said: “Yeah, I think sometimes stats can skew the way things are in reality.”

“I think that you can massage the stats to suit your argument sometimes. But I think if you’re just talking about the eye test with Marcus, I think his whole energy looks much better.”

“It looks really good. His body language is really positive. I think to really go, this is what his performance was like for me, it was a performance that showed a lot of promise without being decisive and without being clinical.”

Ferdinand further stressed that manager Thomas Tuchel needs to rely on Rashford and Arsenal forward Bukayo Saka if England are to break down opposing defences. He added: “I thought he got into some really good areas.”

“I think up until the decision-making part at the end of it, I think he would have been doing everything that the manager would have wanted, running in behind, being a threat behind on the last man, getting to one-vs-one situations.”

“But him and [Bukayo] Saka — on both sides — it was just the end product that wasn’t there this game. But I saw enough to make me still have the belief in those guys to be the ones that are going to really unlock things for us outside of Jude [Bellingham] and Harry Kane.”

Meanwhile, Harry Maguire has recently stated that the Manchester United squad would welcome Rashford back if he decides to return. Nonetheless, the forward’s future at Old Trafford seems uncertain, and a solid performance at the World Cup could be key to securing his next move.