England hit double figures in goals in a competitive game for the first time to power into the World Cup on Monday.
San Marino 0-10 England: Harry Kane scored four goals and moved up to third in England's all-time scoring charts as the Three Lions booked their ticket to the 2022 World Cup with a 10-0 demolition of San Marino.
After scoring a hat-trick in the first half against Albania, Kane repeated the feat inside 39 minutes at Olimpico di Serravalle, becoming the first England player to score four goals in a single game since Ian Wright in 1993. Kane's international goals tally now stands at 48, level with Gary Lineker in the all-time scoring charts.
For the second game in a row, Harry Maguire scored the opening goal before England ran rampant in the second half. As the Three Lions scored double figures in a competitive encounter for the first time, Emile Smith Rowe and Tyrone Mings opened their international accounts, and Bukayo Saka and Tammy Abraham joined them on the congested scoresheet.
With the win, England completes an assured World Cup Qualification campaign, finishing first in Group I, six points ahead of second-placed Poland, and can now focus on Qatar 2022, their seventh consecutive World Cup finals appearance, where Gareth Southgate will hope to build on a promising 2021 by winning the biggest prize of all.
Player ratings
San Marino: Benedettini (3), Manuel Battistini (3), Fabbri (3), Rossi (2), Fabio Tomassini (3), Lunadei (6), Enrico Golinucci (3), Mularoni (3), D'Addario (3), Nanni (4), Hirsch (3).
Subs: Conti (3), Vitaioli (3), Grandoni (3), Censoni (3), Golinucci (3).
England: Ramsdale (n/a), Coady (6), Maguire (7), Mings (7), Alexander-Arnold (7), Bellingham (7), Phillips (6), Saka (8), Foden (6), Kane (9), Smith-Rowe (8).
Subs: Abraham (6), Chilwell (6), James (6), Gallagher (6), Stones (n/a).
How England sealed another World Cup adventure
With a powerful header into the San Marino net, England stamped their influence on the game after just six minutes. Maguire got on the end of Phil Foden's corner to open the scoring for the second game in a row.
Maguire didn't reprise his hands-to-ear celebration from the win over Albania on Friday, but England were soon rejoicing again when Bukayo Saka's strike took a massive deflection off San Marino defender Filippo Fabbri on its way in.
Saka was involved once more as England scored their third goal under unusual circumstances. The Arsenal striker's cross was met by an acrobatic Phil Foden shot that went wide but was found to have touched the fingertips of Dante Rossi, who was holding his arm in an excessively high position.
The referee pointed to the spot, and Kane went up to score his first goal of the night from 12 yards down the center of the goal.
Four minutes later, Kane doubled his score for the evening, hammering debutant Emile Smith Rowe's cross into the net after it had eluded everyone in the area, and his sixth England hat-trick was soon after.
Spurs striker Kane hammered his second penalty of the match emphatically into the top corner of the San Marino net after Alessandro D'Addario had blocked his goal-bound header with his arm.
Kane's unabashed plunder continued with his fourth goal before the break, as he wove his way into the box past more terrible San Marino defending and finished calmly into the bottom corner.
Southgate gave Conor Gallagher his England debut and introduced Abraham and Ben Chilwell after the break, but the Three Lions remained in perfect control as their search for additional goals continued.
From Kane's through pass, Abraham wasted a gilt-edged chance to add a seventh when he hoisted a shot over the target, but Smith Rowe got in on the act, sealing his maiden Three Lions appearance with a clinical near-post finish after Abraham's clever lay-off.
Before San Marino's task became more difficult, Gallagher missed a great chance to score on his maiden England appearance, sending a weak effort from Chilwell's cross into the hands of Elia Benedettini. in difficulty when defender Rossi was sent off for a second bookable offence.
Mings headed in England's eighth from Trent Alexander-Arnold's corner on 69 minutes and the Liverpool defender notched a hat-trick of assists as England completed their record-breaking victory.
After Jude Bellingham had a goal harshly ruled out after Abraham was adjudged to have committed a foul while back-heeling the ball, the Roma striker made amends with an excellently-taken control and finish into the far corner before Alexander-Arnold picked out Saka for their 10th.
- What the manager said…
England manager Gareth Southgate: "I earned the qualifying in Budapest, Warsaw, and Albania." I have to give credit to all of our players and staff for a fantastic season. We can't change the level of opposition, but the mentality and manner in which they applied themselves were fantastic.
"We would have had Wayne Rooney's family on the phone if we had left him [Harry Kane] on for another half-hour." We wanted to give him the chance tonight because he is a fantastic goalscorer, and he took it wonderfully."
"I think Emile [Smith Rowe] did a wonderful job all week; his tight control is outstanding, and he needs to keep doing what he's doing." Tonight we completed with a youthful team.
"I haven't really gone that far forward [to Qatar 2022], we've only played 19 games this season and there's a lot to take in." This is a fantastic time to reflect on the last few months and see what experience the younger players require ahead of the World Cup."
England's record night in San Marino - Opta stats
- England has qualified for the World Cup for the seventh time in a row, the longest such streak in World Cup history.
- England's 39 goals are the most they've ever scored in a World Cup/European Championship qualifying campaign, and they've scored 10 in a single match for the first time since May 1964. (10-0 vs USA).
- This was England's biggest ever away win in a competitive match.
- David Platt scored four goals in a game for England against San Marino in February 1993, Ian Wright scored four goals in November 1993, and Harry Kane scored four goals tonight.
- In qualifying for the 2022 World Cup, Harry Kane has scored more goals than any other European player (12), and he has already scored 16 goals for England in 2021, the most of any Three Lions player in a single calendar year.
- England scored two goals thanks to Emile Smith Rowe and Tyrone Mings. have now had 19 different goalscorers in 2021, their most ever in a single calendar year (excluding own goals).
- With Conor Gallagher and Emile Smith Rowe making their debuts, Gareth Southgate has now given 50 different players their debut for the Three Lions, the most by a manager since Bobby Robson (64).
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