England thumps San Marino 10-0, qualifies for World Cup 2022

England humbled San Marino in a 10-0 victory on Sunday to seal a berth in the upcoming Qatar World Cup on Monday. The Three Lions hit double figures in goals in a competitive game for the first time, securing first place in Group I of European qualifying.

After scoring a hattrick against Albania in the midweek, Harry Kane yet again returned to his prolific best as he scored four goals — all in the first half, with two of them being penalties — to move his international tally to 48, which is tied with Gary Lineker and only five off Wayne Rooney’s all-time record for the country. Kane finished 2021 with 16 goals for England, a national record for a calendar year, according to Associated Press inputs.

Also Read | WC Qualifiers: Belgium seals FIFA World Cup berth after victory over Estonia

England opened the scoring in the 6th minute against the world’s lowest-ranked team — a lineup filled with non-professionals who were using annual leave from their day jobs to play in the qualifier in Serravalle — through Manchester United centre-back Harry Maguire in the sixth minute.

The Euro 2020 finalists doubled their lead through an own-goal in the 15th minute and what followed was a rampage from Harry Kane. 

Emile Smith Rowe, Tyrone Mings, Tammy Abraham and Bukayo Saka also scored as England showed no mercy.

Also Read | Kylian Mbappe bags 4 goals as France qualifies for 2022 World Cup

When England got to double figures after 79 minutes, there appeared to be a good chance the team could at least match its biggest ever win — 13-0 over Ireland in 1882. That’s one of only three times England has scored 11 goals or more.

This was England biggest victory since 1964 when it achieved 10-0 against the United States in New York.

England finished on 26 points, six clear of second-placed Poland, which lost at home to Hungary 2-1 and might be unseeded for next year’s playoffs. That would mean Poland playing away in its one-leg semifinal in one of the three playoff brackets.

With inputs from the Associated Press