ENGLAND sent out a warning to their World Cup rivals with a brilliant 5-0 thrashing of Serbia in qualifying on Tuesday, while Erling Haaland scored five as Norway emphatically maintained their 100-percent record.
Elsewhere in Europe, Portugal and France overturned deficits to make it back-to-back wins to open their bids to reach next year’s tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
The quality of Thomas Tuchel’s England was questioned after a laborious 2-0 win over Andorra at Villa Park on Saturday, but they produced a resounding answer.
“The players did excellent. The credit goes to them, they did amazing. That’s the bar,“ manager Tuchel told ITV Sport.
England dominated the early stages in Belgrade and took the lead in the 33rd minute when Harry Kane headed home his 74th international goal from a Declan Rice corner.
The visitors doubled their advantage two minutes later, as Noni Madueke raced onto an excellent flick-on from Morgan Rogers, kept his composure and dinked the ball beyond Serbia goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic.
Seven minutes into the second half, Ezri Konsa pounced on a loose ball after a free-kick to score his first international goal.
Another Rice set-piece provided England’s fourth, as Marc Guehi slid to meet his free-kick, given for the foul on Kane by Nikola Milenkovic which earned the Nottingham Forest centre-back a straight red card.
Substitute Marcus Rashford rounded off a perfect night for his team with a late spot-kick.
England could qualify for an eighth-successive World Cup in their next Group K game when they visit Latvia next month.
The other match in the group saw Albania leapfrog Serbia into second place, edging out Latvia 1-0 in Tirana.
– Norway score 11 –
Norway produced the perfect response to second-placed Italy’s dramatic 5-4 victory over Israel on Monday with a 11-1 thumping of Moldova to make it five wins from five in Group I.
Haaland was the star of the show, scoring a first-half hat-trick before nodding in his fourth goal not long after the restart.
Martin Odegaard grabbed a goal and two assists. Felix Myhre found the net early on after being picked out by Haaland.
Rangers midfielder Thelo Aasgaard came off the bench to add a seventh, although Moldova did grab themselves a consolation with a Leo Ostigard own goal, only for Aasgaard to score again.
Haaland stepped aside when Norway were awarded a penalty shortly afterwards, allowing the 23-year-old Aasgaard to complete an 11-minute hat-trick.
There were further goals for Haaland and Aasgaard as Moldova crumbled.
Norway, who downed four-time world champions Italy earlier in qualifying and are bidding to qualify for a first World Cup since 1998, moved six points clear of the Azzurri having played a game more.
Iceland made a dream start at the Parc des Princes as Arni Gudjohnsen, son of former Chelsea striker Eidur and playing alongside younger brother Daniel, put the away team ahead against France in the 21st minute.
France equalised on the stroke of half-time through a Kylian Mbappe penalty.
Mbappe turned provider as Didier Deschamps’ men moved in front, racing onto Aurelien Tchouameni’s ball over the top before squaring for Bradley Barcola to tap into an empty net.
Les Bleus clung on for a 2-1 success despite Tchouameni’s sending off and a late effort from Arni Gudjohnsen that was disallowed by VAR.
France, World Cup runners-up in 2022, sit three points clear of Iceland in Group D, with Ukraine and Azerbaijan two points further adrift after playing out a 1-1 draw in Baku.
“We were punished for our only mistake. We created lots of chances but we are capable of doing better,“ said Deschamps.
– Portugal beat Hungary –
Portugal clinched a 3-2 win over Hungary at the Puskas Arena, backing up their opening Group F victory, 5-0 against Armenia last week.
Barnabas Varga gave the home side the lead before Bernardo Silva’s leveller for Portugal.
Cristiano Ronaldo netted a record-extending 141st international goal with a spot-kick just before the hour.
Varga thought he had grabbed a point for Hungary, only for Joao Cancelo to snatch all three for Portugal with four minutes left.
“I loved the attitude and focus — we just needed to control the game and take it where we wanted,“ said Portugal coach Roberto Martinez.
Hungary slipped to third in the standings behind Armenia who beat Ireland 2-1. – AFP
