England vs San Marino LIVE: World Cup qualifier result, final score and reaction tonight
Relive all the action as Gareth Southgate’s side secured their place at the 2022 World Cup
Harry Kane scored four goals in England’s 10-0 demolition of San Marino as Gareth Southgate’s side made official their place in next year’s World Cup finals in Qatar.
In truth England needed only a point against the world’s 210th and lowest-ranked footballing nation to seal top spot in Group I so the only real question was how many goals they would deliver to mark the occasion.
Kane duly filled his boots, following up his hat-trick in the 5-0 win against Albania on Friday with four goals before halftime, including two penalties, swelling his England tally to 48 to move joint third on the list alongside Gary Lineker.
Harry Maguire began the rout with a sixth-minute header and Filippo Fabbri scored an own goal before Kane took over to put England 6-0 ahead before halftime.
Emile Smith-Rowe marked his first England start with the seventh and even after Kane was substituted the punishment continued for San Marino who had Dante Rossi sent off for a second yellow card.
Tyrone Mings, substitute Tammy Abraham and Bukayo Saka all got on the scoresheet in a farcically one-sided match that did little for the reputation of international football.
San Marino vs England
England will be looking to win their first eight matches versus a single opponent for only the third time, also doing so versus Luxembourg and Ireland.
England have had 21 different goalscorers (excluding own goals) in their seven previous matches against San Marino, with eight of those players netting 2+ goals in a single game.
Group I standings
England are currently top of their group with 23 points. Poland, in second place with 20 points, will play Hungary on Monday, with Albania and Andorra being the remaining group fixture.
If England lose, they shouldn’t, and Poland win then first place will come down to goal difference and England have a six-goal advantage over Poland.
San Marino vs England
England have scored 42 goals in all competitions in 2021 – more than they’ve scored in any other calendar year in their history.
Their first match this year was a 5-0 win over San Marino, with the Three Lions last starting and ending a year by scoring five goals in 1993 – 6-0 and 7-1 wins over San Marino in February and November respectively.
Since conceding after eight seconds against San Marino in November 1993, England have only conceded in the first half of three of their 32 away World Cup qualifiers:
Carsten Jancker in the sixth minute for Germany in September 2001, Pavel Sitko in the 28th minute for Belarus in October 2008 and Serhiy Nazarenko in the 29th minute for the Ukraine in October 2009.
England’s trip to San Marino carries simple beauty as more complicated issues lie ahead
While the more complicated questions about Qatar will start to come for England after Monday, a simple beauty shouldn’t be overlooked.
That is the joy of just reaching what Conor Coady giddily describes as “the biggest show on earth”. England are one of only a few countries to have found qualification fairly forgiving in the last few campaigns, but it wasn’t always like that.
You don’t have to go back too far to find a time when the final whistle for games like Monday’s was greeted with jubilation, and celebrated like a league win. You don’t have to look far, either, given the number of countries who are so desperate to be involved.
England ready to revel in simple beauty of reaching a World Cup
Victory is essentially a given, but the joy of reaching ‘the biggest show on earth’ should be valued
Youngster Bellingham reaches 10 caps
Jude Bellingham has won nine caps for England and ended on the winning side in all nine. When he starts tonight he will be the second-youngest player to reach ten caps for the Three Lions (18y 139d), behind only Wayne Rooney (18y 117d) in 2004.
Kane eyeing more records
Harry Kane’s hat-trick against Albania on Friday drew him level with Jimmy Greaves on 44 England goals and the England captain moved to 39 competitive goals for his country, breaking Wayne Rooney’s record of 37.
He needs four goals to draw level with Gary Lineker on 48 England goals and is just nine short of Rooney’s overall record of 53.
Kane has scored 12 goals in 2021 for England – no player has ever scored more in a calendar year for the Three Lions (George Hilsdon in 1908, Dixie Dean in 1927 and Kane in 2019 scored 12 also).
He is averaging a goal or assist every 53 minutes in qualifying matches for England (28 goals, nine assists in 26 appearances).
Line-ups: San Marino vs England
San Marino XI: Benedettini, Battistini, Fabbri, Rossi, Tomassini, Lunadei, Golinucci, Mularoni, D’Addario, Nanni, Hirsch
England XI: Ramsdale, Coady, Maguire, Mings, Alexander-Arnold, Phillips, Bellingham, Saka, Smith Rowe, Kane , Foden
San Marino’s record
San Marino have lost 36 of their 37 home World Cup qualifiers, losing the last 35 in a row by an aggregate score of 146-7. They last avoided defeat at home in March 1993 in a 0-0 draw with Turkey.
The Sammarinese have lost their last 35 qualifying matches (Euros/World Cup), scoring five goals while conceding 163 themselves. They only had one shot in their 4-0 defeat to Hungary last time out.
Gareth Southgate will treat San Marino with same respect as any other nation
England need just a point from San Marino to reach the 2022 World Cup but Gareth Southgate insists he will treat the side ranked lowest in the world with the same respect as any other opponent, having announced that Harry Kane starts on Monday night.
Gareth Southgate will treat San Marino with same respect as any other nation
Harry Kane could play on Monday night.
Southgate on San Marino
Gareth Southgate says he’s treating tonight’s match against San Marino ‘very seriously’ despite the obvious chasm in quality between the two sides.
England are ranked a massive 205 spots above San Marino according to the Fifa rankings but Southgate insists his goal is to secure World Cup qualification with a good performance from the team. He said:
We want a strong performance. We want to make sure the team we start with is a statement that we are here to do business.
"We have not qualified yet. We have got thousands of England fans travelling and we must put on a performance that underlines those facts. We’re taking this very seriously."
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