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
San Marino are the world’s worst national team in Fifa’s rankings, they are bottom (210th) in the world rankings and have lost all nine group games in qualifying, conceding 36 times and scoring just once.
England have won their seven matches against San Marino by an aggregate score of 42-1, beating them 5-0 in March at Wembley in the reverse World Cup 2022 qualifier.
In San Marino, England have won 14-0 across two visits, winning 8-0 in March 2013 and 6-0 in September 2015. Their other match against the Sammarinese not on English soil was played in Bologna in November 1993, with San Marino taking the lead through Davide Gualtieri after eight seconds before losing 7-1.
Southgate on Gallagher
Aaron Ramsdale and Emile Smith Rowe are set to make their full debuts for England tonight and another debutant may see minutes on the pitch.
Five players (Jordan Henderson, Jack Grealish, Mason Mount, Raheem Sterling and Luke Shaw) dropped out of the squad for various reasons, niggling injuries, dental surgery etc so Crystal Palace’s Conor Gallagher has received his first call-up to the national team.
About Gallagher’s call-up, Gareth Southgate said:
I’ve been very impressed with him. We’ve tracked Conor for a very long time. His loan spells at Charlton, at Swansea which we obviously knew the staff there very well, West Brom and now at Crystal Palace.
“At each loan he’s done extremely well, he’s started the season very well with Palace and we talked about him when we named the original squad as somebody that we were keen to keep an eye on.
“I suppose it was one of the benefits of [him] being with the Under-21s because it was an easy transition for us to bring him across. {He is} already Covid tested and going from one bubble to the other was straightforward.
“That’s not to say he’s only here because of that, he’s here because he deserves to be here but it was an easy transition for us to make.”
Raheem Sterling among five England withdrawals as Conor Gallagher called up
Jordan Henderson, Jack Grealish, Raheem Sterling, Mason Mount, and Luke Shaw have withdrawn from the England squad ahead of Monday’s World Cup qualifier in San Marino.
The Football Association also confirmed Conor Gallagher the Chelsea midfielder currently on loan at Crystal Palace, will join the group in its latest squad update.
Gareth Southgate’s side only need to avoid defeat against the minnows in Serravalle to secure their place in next year’s tournament in Qatar.
Raheem Sterling among five England withdrawals as Conor Gallagher called up
England will also be without Jordan Henderson, Jack Grealish, Mason Mount and Luke Shaw for the trip to San Marino.
How England qualify for the World Cup
England are currently top of their qualifying group with a three point advantage over second placed Poland with just one match to play.
For their final qualifying fixture the Three Lions have travelled to San Marino where they’ll face the lowest ranked team in the European side of qualifying and a victory should be expected.
Anything other than defeat will see Gareth Southgate’s men on the plane to Qatar but the England boss will be hoping that his players can put in a performance reminiscent of their victory over Albania on Friday night.
Gareth Southgate on team changes
England boss, Gareth Southgate, makes seven changes to the starting XI as the Three Lions look to secure the point they need to qualify for the World Cup next year.
Of the changes, Southgate emphasised that he wants to maintain England’s consistant high standards regardless of the personnel on the pitch saying:
We will make some changes but also we haven’t qualified yet for the World Cup and whenever you’re bringing players into the team, you wan stability so that ideally those players can flourish and everybody is clear on their roles and responsibilities.
“In particular we always want strong leadership on the pitch. I think that’s very important in any team you field. We’re playing for England, we’ve set a very high standard of performance the other night and we’ve got to continue that into [the match against San Marino]”
Ramsdale and Smith Rowe make full debuts
The team news is in and, as expected, Aaron Ramsdale and Emile Smith Rowe are both included in Gareth Southgate’s starting line-up for the first time.
Tyrone Mings and Conor Coady join Harry Maguire in central defence, with Bukayo Saka and Trent Alexander-Arnold playing as wing-backs. It’s a midfield pairing of Kalvin Phillips and Jude Bellingham, with Smith Rowe and Phil Foden on either side of Harry Kane.
England face San Marino in final World Cup qualifier
Welcome to The Independent’s live coverage as England face San Marino in their final qualifier for the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
Gareth Southgate’s side only require a draw to ensure they top Group I and should encounter few problems against the world’s lowest-ranked side, who have lost all nine of their qualifying fixtures so far.
With that in mind, the England coach is set to make several changes to his starting line-up, with Aaron Ramsdale and Emile Smith Rowe in line for their first starts.
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