Latvia 0-5 England: Kane at the double as Riga rout sends Tuchel's team to World Cup

Harry Kane scored twice as England booked their place at the 2026 World Cup with an emphatic 5-0 win over Latvia.

Thomas Tuchel's team travelled to Riga knowing victory on Tuesday would be enough to seal their place at next year's tournament.

And that win arrived in comfortable fashion, with a double from captain Kane propelling them into a 3-0 lead by half-time.

With Anthony Gordon having opened the scoring in the 26th minute, Kane made it 2-0 when he drilled home from the edge of the box.

He doubled up in first-half stoppage time, converting from the penalty spot after a foul from Antonijs Cernomordijs was spotted by a VAR check.

Ezri Konsa's superb last-ditch tackle on Vladislavs Gutkovskis helped Jordan Pickford keep his ninth successive clean sheet, while at the other end, Maksims Tonisevs' 58th-minute own goal compounded Latvia's misery.

The rout was complete in the 86th minute, as Eberechi Eze – who grabbed his first England goal when the Three Lions beat Latvia in March – tucked inside from the left and finished with aplomb.

Data Debrief: Group K conquered as King Kane makes history

England, who have qualified for an eighth successive World Cup, will finish top in Group K, and Tuchel may well look to use the November fixtures, against Serbia and Albania, to experiment somewhat, now that the job is done.

This is the second time since World War One that England have won back-to-back away games by at least five goals, having also done so in October and November 2021 (5-0 v Andorra, 10-0 v San Marino).

England have scored 21 times in eight games under Tuchel, who is yet to see his team ship a competitive goal in six such matches.

Kane, meanwhile, has netted more than one goal in a match for England for the 13th time, setting a new Three Lions record, surpassing Nat Lofthouse's 12.