England qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2022 after demolishing San Marino by 10-0 in the final group game of the World Cup qualifier.
The Three Lions scored six goals before the interval thanks to Harry Kane’s haul and the other two were scored by Harry Maguire and an own goal by the opposition defender Filippo Fabbri.
In the second half, Southgate’s side extended the margin even more and scored four more goals courtesy of Emile Smith Rowe, Tyrone Mings, Tammy Abraham and Bukayo Saka.
Midway through the second half San Marino defender Dante Rossi was dismissed after picking up the second yellow card.
Meanwhile, after scoring on Monday night Manchester United defender Harry Maguire became the highest scoring defender of England. Harry Kane reached Gary Lineker in the third position with 48 goals. Only six goals away from becoming the highest scorer of England by beating Wayne Rooney. Who has scored 53 goals.
San Marino 0-10 England:
After the game, England boss Gareth Southgate has praised his players to secure a place for the World championship and said on the official website:
“Qualification was earned in Budapest, in Warsaw, in Albania. I’ve got to credit all of our players on a really good year. We can’t do anything about the opposition but the mentality of the way they played tonight was terrific.”
The Three Lions boss also joked about the opposition and said the forward Harry Kane could have become England’s top scorer on the day. If the Tottenham man played the whole game. He said:
“If we’d left Harry on the pitch for another 30 minutes, he might have got it. But we’d have had Wayne Rooney’s family on the phone telling us to get him off! He’s a phenomenal goalscorer, but he’s not had the opportunity in games where there have been lots of goals available. He took that chance tonight.”
The Three Lions captain has also expressed his delight after scoring seven goals in the last two international games. He said on the official website:
“It’s fantastic. Every time I wear the England shirt, I’m proud and it’s one of the greatest feelings I can have to score goals. It’s nice to be amongst those people and hopefully, there are more to come.”
The upcoming fixtures for both teams:
England has successfully qualified for next year’s World Cup from this group. Second-placed Poland will have to go through the playoffs round to book a ticket for Qatar.
