Marcus Rashford pre-World Cup form and post-World Cup form compared

The form that Marcus Rashford is exhibiting right now is beyond anything that even Manchester United fans envisaged at the beginning of the season.

He netted another two goals in United's impressive 3-0 victory over Leicester City, another in the Carabao Cup final, and he looks every bit as confident as when he first burst onto the scene against FC Midtjylland in the Europa League back in 2017.

Rashford has been a different player following the 2022 World Cup in which he was only used sparingly by England coach Gareth Southgate, but how much exactly has Rashford's form improved since Qatar?

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Marcus Rashford before the World Cup

Manchester United started the season in a pretty shocking manner as they were beaten 2-1 by Brighton at Old Trafford and then thumped 4-0 by Brentford. There were immediate fears Erik ten Hag was out of his depth and the new signings were going to be ineffectual.

Slowly but surely, the picture improved and it started to become clear what Ten Hag was trying to do with his new team. They went on a run of four victories in the Premier League before the 6-3 defeat away at Manchester City, and then the only league defeat before the break came away at Aston Villa in Unai Emery's first game.

The Europa League group stage also kicked in during that time and United won five and lost one. That was only enough for second in the group though, hence the tie against Barcelona.

In the four Europa League group games that Rashford took part in, he netted three times and got one assist. Rashford featured in 14 Premier League games before the break for the World Cup and he scored four times and got two assists. He also scored one in the Carabao Cup win over Aston Villa.

That means that before the World Cup, Rashford scored five times for United and got three assists, well beneath his clear potential.

Marcus Rashford after the World Cup

There was much anger from United fans when Southgate only used Rashford from the bench in the knockout stages after he had scored twice in the 3-0 win over Wales in the group stage. Whilst we have the gift of hindsight now, it seems giving Rashford more minutes in that moment may have helped England.

With the domestic cup competitions getting into full flow, Rashford has been playing a lot for United since the end of the World Cup. He has played five times in the Carabao Cup and within those four games, he got five goals and two assists. He did not play 90 minutes in any of the four games.

Rashford has played in both of United's FA Cup games and he scored twice and got an assist against Everton, but had no goal involvements against Reading. He also grabbed one goal at Camp Nou against Barcelona in the Europa League.

It is in the Premier League where Rashford has really exploded. He has now played in 10 league games since the World Cup and has scored an incredible 10 goals, as well as getting one assist.

That means that post-World Cup, Rashford has played in 17 games and has scored 17 goals and got four assists. The only Premier League game in which Rashford has not scored since play resumed was away against Crystal Palace.

The only downside for Rashford is that this burst in form has come too late to challenge Erling Haaland for the Premier League Golden Boot as the Norwegian is on 27 compared to Rashford's 14, but he is certainly on track for his best season ever.

Marcus Rashford before World Cup vs after World Cup