The suspense was already largely stale, but England did not go half way to ensure its ticket for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Monday, November 15, by crushing San Marino (10-0), with a quadruplet by Harry Kane.
Uncompromising in the playoffs, as usual, the Three Lions finished first in Group I, ahead of Poland, with 26 points out of 30 possible, having conceded only two draws for eight successes. Above all, they scored a whopping 39 goals in ten games, conceding only three.
England manager Gareth Southgate had largely rotated his squad, giving two Arsenal players – goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale and midfielder Emile Smith-Rowe – their first start, before throwing Chelsea’s Conor Gallagher into the deep end in second period.
From the 5e minute Harry Maguire opened the scoring with a header, as he had done three days ago, at the 9the minute, against Albania (5-0).
Harry Kane consolidated his rank
San Marino was not helped by fate, with a goal against his own side Filippo Fabbri (2-0, 15e), nor by refereeing, intractable on the hands in the box which offered Harry Kane two scoring opportunities, which he converted (3-0, 27e, and 5-0, 39e). The other two goals of the English captain, a recovery on a service from Smith-Rowe (4-0, 31e) and a too easy slalom in the opponent’s area (6-0, 42e), owe nothing to anyone.
His quadruple, the first for an English international since Ian Wright, eighteen years ago to nearly two days, already against San Marino (7-1), made him improve a few more records in the process. He consolidated his ranks as England’s most prolific international in a calendar year with sixteen goals and in official matches, with 43 goals. He is also only five goals away from Wayne Rooney’s all-time record (53 goals).
In the second half, Smith-Rome (7-0, 58e) invited himself to the notice board, before Dante Rossi was kicked out to make matters worse on the side of the 210e and last nation in the FIFA rankings.
Ruthless, Tyrone Mings (8-0, 69e), Tammy Abraham (9-0, 78e) and Bukayo Saka (10-0, 79e) have added to the score for a record victory for nearly fifty years.