Ella Toone scored a hat-trick on what she called a “special night” as England hit 10 goals against Latvia to maintain their 100% record in Women’s World Cup qualifying.
Ellen White grabbed her 44th England goal to move joint second overall in the list of the nation’s top female goalscorers – and also had a penalty saved as the Lionesses were in total control.
Manchester United’s Toone was twice left unmarked and scored the first two in the opening 12 minutes and got her third in the second half, beating the goalkeeper at the near post.
“I’m delighted I managed to get the hat-trick, but more importantly we got the three points which was the main thing we set out to do,” said 22-year-old Toone, who now has five England goals in six appearances.
“It’s been a special night and a very proud moment for me and my family.”
England manager Sarina Wiegman called Toone “a very talented player” and added: “I don’t know how good she will become – that’s up to her. But she’s really talented, that’s obvious. I’m very happy she got this hat-trick.”
England’s other goals saw Chelsea defender Millie Bright convert from close range, Beth Mead produced a composed finish and substitute Rachel Daly tapped in from a few yards out.
Captain Leah Williamson curled home an eighth goal and Georgia Stanway arrowed a low shot into the bottom corner for number nine.
Daly rounded the keeper for England’s 10th – the second time in qualifying they had reached double figures following their 10-0 win in Luxembourg last month.
However, they fell short of their biggest-ever competitive victory – a 13-0 success against Hungary back in 2005.
The latest victory keeps England top of Group D, with four wins from four, having scored 32 goals and conceded none.
A perfect birthday present for boss Wiegman
The result continued a remarkable run of results since Wiegman became England boss, with her four games in charge seeing an 8-0 win over North Macedonia, 10 goals against Luxembourg, a 4-0 success over Northern Ireland and now this easy triumph.
Wiegman, who turned 52 on Tuesday, saw her team provide absolute dominance after she had named an attacking line-up.
She said: “10-0 is pretty nice to have on your birthday so thanks to the squad.
“Sometimes we were a little sloppy and sometimes we need to be tighter on the ball.
“I’ve learnt a lot. There is lots of willingness, lots of quality and depth. We can play high-tempo, a possession-game and move the ball to switch the field.
“We have players who can score. It was hard circumstances as it was not a good opponent, the field was not as good as Saturday [at Wembley against Northern Ireland], it was windy and raining, but you still see the eagerness to score lots of goals and get the game to a high level.”
England had 78% possession, 58 shots – 21 of which were on target – and 24 corners. Latvia, ranked 102nd in the world – 94 places below England – registered zero shots and did not have one corner.
Only the performance of home goalkeeper Enija Anna Vaivode spared Latvia from further embarrassment.
She kept out White’s penalty as the striker missed the chance to overtake Kerry Davis’ total of 44 goals, although White’s earlier goal left her only two away from record holder Kelly Smith’s mark of 46.
‘We don’t want to be watching games which are cricket scores’
Chelsea manager Emma Hayes, on ITV4 commentary, felt this was not a good advert for the women’s game. She said: “Uefa needs to invest more in the smaller nations and grow the game worldwide.
“England can only beat what’s in front of them, but we don’t want to be watching games which are cricket scores. A team like Latvia needs more funding, more support, probably a better calendar schedule.
“Latvia have defended for their lives in the second half as best as they can. It’s all about what Fifa and Uefa can do to divert funds to grow countries like Latvia and their leagues.
“Maybe have something like the Nations League in the men’s game – something needs to be done – 10-0 games are not good for the game.”
Player of the match
TooneElla Toone
Latvia Women
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Squad number23Player nameVaivode
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Squad number11Player nameFedotova
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Squad number13Player nameVoitane
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Squad number8Player nameZaicikova
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Squad number22Player nameGergeleziu
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Squad number5Player nameGirzda
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Squad number15Player nameBaliceva
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Squad number14Player nameSevcova
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Squad number19Player nameMiksone
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Squad number7Player nameEglite
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Squad number10Player nameRocane
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Squad number6Player nameLubina
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Squad number4Player nameGaike
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Squad number2Player nameTumane
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Squad number18Player nameSilova
Line-ups
Latvia Women
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 23Vaivode
- 13Voitane
- 22Gergeleziu
- 6Lubina
- 2TumaneSubstituted forEgliteat 77′minutes
- 19Miksone
- 10RocaneSubstituted forGirzdaat 86′minutes
- 8Zaicikova
- 11FedotovaSubstituted forGaikeat 69′minutes
- 14Sevcova
- 15BalicevaSubstituted forSilovaat 77′minutes
Substitutes
- 1Skujevska
- 3Lodzina
- 4Gaike
- 5Girzda
- 7Eglite
- 9Cemirtane
- 12Lindermane
- 16Vitmore
- 17Gricijenko
- 18Silova
- 20Brahmane
England
Formation 3-5-2
- 1Earps
- 2Bright
- 3Williamson
- 5GreenwoodSubstituted forStokesat 45′minutes
- 7Mead
- 8KirbySubstituted forStanwayat 45′minutes
- 4Walsh
- 6TooneSubstituted forWubben-Moyat 69′minutes
- 11HempSubstituted forParrisat 45′minutes
- 10England
- 9WhiteSubstituted forDalyat 45′minutes
Substitutes
- 13MacIver
- 14Daly
- 15Stanway
- 16Wubben-Moy
- 17Parris
- 18Staniforth
- 19Stokes
- 20Scott
- 21Hampton
- 22Russo
- 23Carter
- Referee:
- Katarzyna Lisiecka
Live Text
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Match ends, Latvia Women 0, England 10.
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Second Half ends, Latvia Women 0, England 10.
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Attempt blocked. Rachel Daly (England) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
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Rachel Daly (England) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Foul by Arta Lubina (Latvia Women).
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Attempt blocked. Rachel Daly (England) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Nikita Parris.
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Substitution, Latvia Women. Kristine Girzda replaces Anastasija Rocane.
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Attempt missed. Keira Walsh (England) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Beth Mead following a corner.
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Corner, England. Conceded by Olga Sevcova.
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Georgia Stanway (England) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Foul by Olga Sevcova (Latvia Women).
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Goal! Latvia Women 0, England 10. Rachel Daly (England) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Beth Mead with a through ball.
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Goal! Latvia Women 0, England 9. Georgia Stanway (England) left footed shot from the right side of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Nikita Parris.
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Attempt missed. Beth Mead (England) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Georgia Stanway following a fast break.
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Goal! Latvia Women 0, England 8. Leah Williamson (England) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Georgia Stanway following a corner.
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Corner, England. Conceded by Enija-Anna Vaivode.
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Attempt saved. Bethany England (England) right footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the top left corner. Assisted by Lotte Wubben-Moy.
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Corner, England. Conceded by Olga Sevcova.
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Substitution, Latvia Women. Alina Silova replaces Tatjana Baliceva.
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Substitution, Latvia Women. Dzeina Eglite replaces Ligita Tumane.