The Three Lions recorded a five-star, beating San Marino by five goals at Wembley. Spain were held to a 1-1 draw by Greece whereas Germany and Italy collected easy victories.
Gareth Southgate’s England are off to a flying start in their 2022 FIFA World Cup European Qualifiers, beating San Marino 5-0. The Three Lions registered 32 shots on the San Marino goal and were only denied a better scoreline by goalkeeper Elia Benedettini.
Southampton skipper, James Ward Prowse, scored his first international goal for England to lead in the 14th minute. The midfielder arrived in the box just in time to divert Ben Chilwell’s cross into the net. The Three Lions were two goals up shortly after, thanks to a header from Dominic Calvert-Lewin from close range. Raheem Sterling put his side in complete control of the tie when he scored the third goal before half-time with a trademark inside-the-box finish.
Calvert-Lewin had his second of the night when Jesse Lingard provided him with a pin-point cross inside the penalty area. All the Everton man had to do was get a connection with the ball. Debutant Ollie Watkins scored England’s fifth and final goal, collecting a Phil Foden pass before striking across the goalkeeper.
England takes on Albania next in the World Cup qualifiers (March 28). They finish the international break with another competitive fixture against Poland (March 31).
Elsewhere, Spain were held to a 1-1 draw by Greece thanks to a second-half penalty by Anastasios Bakasetas. La Roja took the lead courtesy of a goal by the Juventus striker Alvaro Morata. They couldn’t find the insurance goal, however, and were eventually pegged back by their opponents. Georgia are up next for Luis Enrique’s men, followed by Kosovo.
Germany were given a pre-match scare when two of their players – Jonas Hofmann and Marcel Halstenberg – were sidelined due to COVID complications. That did not impact their performance on the pitch, evident by a solid 3-0 win over Iceland.
Die Mannschaft took the lead in just the second minute of the match. A well-worked move was finished off by Bayern Munich’s Leon Goretzka, who blasted the ball in from close range. Germany were two goals up five minutes later when Leroy Sane pulled the ball back for Kai Havertz to score.
The in-form Manchester City star Ilkay Gundogan got on the scoresheet in the second half with a stunning strike. The midfielder collected the ball high up the pitch, dodged past one Iceland player, and then lashed an unstoppable shot into the bottom corner from long range.
Germany hit the post later on with Serge Gnabry, and there was also time for his Bayern Munich teammate Jamal Musiala to make his debut for the national team. Musiala, who represented England at the youth level, decided to switch to Germany ahead of the international break.
In other matches, Italy continued their fine run of form under Roberto Mancini as they beat Northern Ireland by two goals to nil. Domenico Berardi scored in the 14th minute, and Ciro Immobile added another shortly after to give the Azzurri a comfortable victory.
Meanwhile, Zlatan Ibrahimovic returned to the Sweden team with a 1-0 win over Georgia. The 39-year-old striker did not score himself, but it took him 35 minutes to provide the assist to Viktor Claesson for the winning goal. Returning after an absence of 57 months, Milan striker became the oldest player ever to represent Sweden.
