England captain Harry Kane scored twice in a 5-0 victory over Latvia as England secured qualification for the World Cup.
The Bayern Munich forward struck twice in the first half, while Anthony Gordon, Eberechi Eze, and a Latvian own goal contributed to the demolition.
Thomas Tuchel’s side head to the 2026 FIFA World Cup after topping Group K with a perfect record and six clean sheets in six games.
As it happened
The Three Lions were on the front foot straight from kick-off as Kane tapped the ball into the empty net in the first minute, but the goal was ruled out due to an offside from Bukayo Saka in the build-up.
England maintained control of possession in the early minutes, as Gordon played a low cross towards Kane, who narrowly missed the target.
Latvia soon found themselves locked up inside their own half, with most of the team inside the 18-yard box.
As a result, England resorted to long-range efforts, as Elliot Anderson, Saka, and Gordon attempted shots from outside the box in quick succession, all missing the target.
Just when the hosts had slowed the game tempo, Gordon broke the deadlock for England in the 26th minute with his second goal for the national team.
The Newcastle winger received a long ball from John Stones, found his way into the penalty area, and slotted the ball into the bottom corner past Krišjānis Zviedris’s outstretched arm.
Anderson soon found a pocket of space in the penalty area after receiving a pass from Morgan Rogers, with his shot going wide of the right post.
Thomas Tuchel’s side doubled their lead in the 44th minute as the ball fell into the path of Kane following Saka’s interception, with the England captain dispatching into the bottom corner with his left foot.
This was the 75th England goal for the Bayern Munich forward and his fifth goal in six qualifying matches.
Kane nearly had another in the subsequent attack as Declan Rice floated a ball into the box from the left-hand side, but the captain’s free header was denied by Zviedris, who dived to his right and made the save.
With only one minute added on, England were awarded a penalty just before the interval as Latvia’s captain Antonis Černomordijs and Kane got entangled, with the former pulling Kane’s shirt.
Harry Kane sent the keeper the wrong way and placed the ball into the bottom corner, securing a 3-0 half-time lead with his 76th international goal.
Rain descended at Daugava Stadium as the second half commenced, and England picked up exactly where they left off.
Latvia had a rare opportunity as Renārs Varslavāns played a through ball to Vladislavs Gutkovskis, but Ezri Konsa averted the danger with a late recovery, keeping Jordan Pickford uninvolved.
England quickly reclaimed the initiative and increased the lead following an own goal by Maksims Toņiševs, who got in the way of Jed Spence’s cross after Zviedris failed to punch it to safety.
Eze came on as a substitute and almost got England’s fifth, his left-footed strike into the bottom corner from the edge of the box denied by the goalkeeper.
Latvia’s only shot on target came in the 67th minute, as substitute Eduards Dašķevičs’s strike after a quickly taken corner drew a save from Pickford.
England managed to find a fifth goal courtesy of their substitutes, as Jarrod Bowen won the ball back in midfield and played it through to Eze, the Arsenal winger converting the breakaway move with a right-footed finish into the far corner.
England’s win guaranteed their spot at the World Cup next summer after what has so far been a faultless qualifying campaign.
The lineups
LAT: Zviedris; Jurkovskis, Veips, Černomordijs, Balodis, Cigaņiks; Varslavans, Vapne, Zelenkovs, Ikaunieks; Gutkovskis
ENG: Pickford; Spence, Konsa, Stones, Lewis-Skelly; Rogers, Anderson, Rice; Saka, Kane, Gordon