Congratulations to England on a record-breaking win. Commiserations to Latvia, who were hopelessly outclassed. And of course, massive congratulations to the ever-impressive Ellen White, who becomes England Women’s leading scorer, now with 48 goals to her name. Tougher tests to come for England but that was a job extremely well done. See you next time. I’ll leave you with Suzanne Wrack’s report …
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The pundit Ian Wright points out that it’s not easy to score that number of goals, no matter who the opponent is, and that’s quite right. It was an accomplished display and England kept their concentration and motivation.
Sarina Wiegman speaks: “Of course I’m very proud [of Ellen White] ... she’s having a tremendous career ... again this was such a team performance, we kept on going ... the opponent wasn’t very good but you have to make the game yourself, keep your shape ... the energy stayed in the team for the whole game and I think that’s really impressive.
“It’s nothing near what we expect in February, or at the Euros ... but we kept going.”
Ellen White speaks after becoming England Women’s leading scorer: “I actually felt really emotional about it ... it’s been spoken about for a long time and yeah, I feel very proud ... but I feel really proud of the girls tonight ... some of them scored their first goals for England ... I feel really proud [of them].
“I’d have said: ‘You’re having a laugh’ [if she’d been told as a schoolgirl that she would become England’s top scorer] ... I’m not finished here. Kelly Smith is a legend and I was lucky to play with her ... she’ll always be the best, for me.”
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England had been criticised recently for not being clinical enough, but there is no arguing with the performance tonight on that score, if you’ll pardon the pun. Whether or not such matches are any use in preparing for big tournaments is another question. England have +53 goal difference and they lead Group D by five points ahead of Austria. They are surely cruising to the World Cup, which takes place in Australia and New Zealand in 2023.
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Reaction coming up shortly.
The England players and staff huddle together as they celebrate rounding off their 2021 fixtures in considerable style.
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The biggest victory in an international match, by the way, was when Australia beat American Samoa 31-0 in qualifying for the 2002 World Cup.
Full-time! England 20-0 Latvia
Four hat-tricks and the all-time England scoring record for Ellen White. Not a bad evening’s work: 10 different scorers, including a treble for Alessia Russo off the bench. The England players look absolutely thrilled, as does Wiegman. Hugs all round, with White’s teammates all congratulating her on a magnificent achievement.
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90 min + 2: Beth England heads just over the bar after another brilliant ball by Mead! So nearly a fifth hat-trick of the night for the team. One minute left.
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Goal! 88 min: England 20-0 Latvia (Hemp)
It’s four for Hemp! She swivels on a bouncing ball, at close range, and bangs a powerful finish low into the net. Double double figures for England, and a horrible night for Latvia.
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“Evening Luke,” emails Bill Hargreaves. “‘The kind of stat Gareth Southgate can only dream of.’
“Kind of an apt image: Gareth in his pyjamas, cup of cocoa in hand, as he stands next to the bed, wondering out loud: ‘I wonder what stats we’ll dream of tonight?’
Goal! 84 min: England 19-0 Latvia (England)
The ball breaks to England in the penalty area and she sends a shot into the roof of the net. This really is an embarrassing mismatch, in case you hadn’t noticed already.
Goal! 82 min: England 18-0 Latvia (Russo)
Oh dear. A horrible scuffed attempted clearance by Sklemenova allows Russo to head in her hat-trick goal, seconds after her second.
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Goal! 81 min: England 17-0 Latvia (Russo)
Mead crosses, Russo heads goalwards, and scores her second. Ruthless.
Goal! 80 min: England 16-0 Latvia (Nobbs)
Jordan Nobbs takes the ball with her back to goal, turns, and clips a shot inside the far post. Lovely finish.
Goal! 76 min: England 15-0 Latvia (Hemp)
A mazy run, a look up, and a crisply-struck shot flies into the net. One of the best goals of the evening if not the best. Hemp has a hat-trick, along with Mead and White – good going for a player who had not scored for England before this match.
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75 min: The energetic Mead crosses from the left for England. The goalkeeper, Sklemenova, manages to beat it out.
Latvia haven’t had a shot, let alone a shot on target.
Goal! 71 min: England 14-0 Latvia (Russo)
A polished delivery by Mead, and a power-packed header by Alessia Russo, her first England goal. This is now England Women’s biggest ever win at international level. The opposition is by no means strong, but England have gone about their business in clinical fashion. No matter how bad the opponent it’s still some feat to score this many goals.
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Goal! 67 min: England 13-0 Latvia (Scott)
Make that 46 goals in qualifying now. Another cracking header, this time from Jill Scott, who has not been on the field long. She sends it back across the goalie and England have equalled their biggest margin of victory in a World Cup qualifier.
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66 min: England have now scored 45 unanswered goals in qualifying for the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup, which will be hosted in Australia and New Zealand. The kind of stat Gareth Southgate can only dream of.
Goal! 61 min: England 12-0 Latvia (England)
A phenomenal header from the Chelsea forward, and she finally gets her goal! That was a top-class finish after a searching cross by Greenwood from the left. No chance for the goalie. England punches the air in delight as she celebrates.
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60 min: Russo and Scott come on, while White and Stanway - who have both been exemplary this evening – go off. If you missed it earlier, White broke Kelly Smith’s England scoring record with two goals inside the first 10 minutes in Doncaster.
🏆 THE RECORD IS BROKEN 🏆@ellsbells89 is our new all-time record goalscorer! pic.twitter.com/kfwUg1KaUX
— Lionesses (@Lionesses) November 30, 2021
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Goal! 56 min: England 11-0 Latvia (Carter)
There is no let-up after that superb save by Sklemenova. From the resulting corner which is taken short, Stanway powers an excellent low cross into the mixer, where Carter calmly turns in her first England goal from point-blank range.
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55 min: Nobbs belts a shot which is probably flying into the corner, and Sklemenova tips it around the post! Excellent save.
54 min: “You realise that by saying Latvia had “steadied the ship” (40 mins), you basically sank it for them?” emails Sarah Rothwell.
Thanks for the email Sarah. Well, they were already 6-0 down at the time ...
Goal! 52 min: England 10-0 Latvia
Tumane is penalised for a foul on Mead in the area and is booked. Stanway belts the penalty into the bottom corner with utter confidence. Sklemenova dives the right way but the penalty is too good and nestles in the net. It’s double figures and still 40 minutes or so remaining.
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Goal! 48 min: England 9-0 Latvia (White)
White is England’s second hat-trick hero of the evening! She snaps a shot, right-footed, from the edge of the area. Alina Sklemenova, who has just come on, bats the ball into her own net. A decent effort by White, poor goalkeeping, but she’ll take it.
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Second half kick-off!
Carter and Nobbs come on for England. Bright and Toone off.
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Half-time! England 8-0 Latvia
Ellen White is the all-time leading scorer for England Women after scoring twice inside the first 10 minutes this evening. Beth Mead has a hat-trick, and Lauren Hemp has two. It’s a stroll for England, who are far, far too good for Latvia, but they have certainly been clinical. See you in a few minutes for more.
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44 min: Goal! England 8-0 Latvia (Hemp)
Mead swings over an excellent cross from the right. Hemp is there to nod in.
I’d eight to be a Latvia Women fan this evening. (Sorry.)
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43 min: Goal! England 7-0 Latvia (Toone)
The Manchester United player collects a pass on the edge of the box, turns, and lashes a powerful shot unerringly into the far corner. Class.
40 min: Have Latvia steadied the ship, or are England just bored of scoring? I think the former: the visiting defence is operating a little better now, looking more organised overall, and as a result England are not creating chances with such regularity. As I type, Beth England is nearly in after a nice ball from Toone, but Zaicikova makes an excellent tackle.
37 min: Mead slips a crafty ball into White’s feet, on the right side of the penalty area, but the striker’s first touch is lacking. England get a corner out of it, though, and Bright has half a chance from the set-piece. She heads wide.
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34 min: Mead floats a tremendous cross towards the head of hat-trick-hunting White. England Women’s all-time leading scorer can’t control the effort, though, and it balloons over the crossbar.
31 min: Greenwood lofts a delightful pass over the defence for Stanway, who tries a spectacular volley, but the shot squirts out for a goal kick.
30 min: I agree Chris, Beth England definitely didn’t look offside before burying that header in the net. Someone else may have been fractionally off, but it shouldn’t have led to the goal being disallowed.
@LukeMcLaughlin Poor Beth England can't catch a break - her disallowed effort looked less offside than Ellen White's record-breaking goal! Hope she gets the goal(s) her effort and linkup play deserve
— Chris (@chrisleonmiller) November 30, 2021
28 min: Tumane ventures out of defence for Latvia and dribbles down the left wing. She loses it, and as a result when England attack, there is even more space than usual in the visiting rearguard. It really is remarkable how badly organised this Latvia defence is, they are being picked off at every possible opportunity.
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25 min: Toone, who scored a hat-trick in Riga last month, skews a shot over from near the penalty spot. A rare misstep from this clinical England team this evening.
Goal! 23 min: England 6-0 Latvia
England keep coming. Hemp curls a cultured ball to the far post where Mead has a straightforward task to nod the ball over the line. This is a going to be painful night for Latvia. Actually it already is, but it’s probably going to get worse.
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19 min: White is denied a hat-trick, following up on a rebound, by a stunning diving block by Tumane. Much of Latvia’s defending has been shambolic but that was brilliant.
Goal! 18 min: England 5-0 Latvia (Hemp)
Hemp starts and finishes a slick attacking move, laying the ball out to Stanway on the right, roaring on to the return pass and heading it powerfully in.
17 min: Beth England has the ball in the net with a fine header from a corner, but the offside flag is up.
15 min: Walsh and Stanway try a one-two on the edge of the box, but get it wrong. England keep coming, and Stanway finds England with a cultured cross, but the Chelsea player’s header drifts just wide of the far post. Stanway then embarks on a jinking run and fires a right-footed shot which is blocked.
Goal! 12 min: England 4-0 Latvia (Mead)
Mead turns away from a token attempt to mark her by the Latvian defence, and finds the space to belt a shot inside the far post. There isn’t much resistance from the visiting back four at the moment, but England are taking their chances ruthlessly.
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Goal! 9 min: England 3-0 Latvia (White)
She’s done it! A sensational low cross from Stanway from the right finds White making a run to the far post, where she taps in for the goal which makes her England Women’s all-time leading scorer with 47. The players all rush to congratulate her – White looks absolutely thrilled, as she should be. She gets a big hug from tonight’s captain, Bright. It’s shaping up to be a very long evening for this Latvia side and a very fruitful one for England.
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Goal! 6 min: England 2-0 Latvia (White)
Ellen White draws level with Kelly Smith, the all-time record England Women scorer, on 46 goals! It’s a class goal too, collecting a ball into feet from Stanway, turning and clipping a looping shot from 20 yards which flies into the roof of the net.
4 min: A lovely turn by Stanway, who ghosts into the box and cracks an accurate shot which is flying inside the far post. Sinutkina dives low to keep it out, though, a fine-one-handed save.
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Goal! 3 min: England 1-0 Latvia (Mead)
Lauren Hemp produces a good cutback from the byline on the left. The Latvia defence is disorganised, already, and Mead is unmarked, six yards from goal. She sidefoots in for the opener.
2 min: England begin on the front foot. Ellen White lays the ball off to Alex Greenwood, who fires a sweet first-time shot against the crossbar from just outside the area. Inches away from the opener!
First half kick-off!
We are under way.
The teams are lined up in the tunnel. The England captain Millie Bright smiles, and all the England players look remarkably relaxed. Latvia’s players look a bit more apprehensive on what may lie ahead, which is understandable after the heavy defeat they suffered last month.
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She scored the winner on Saturday, and said afterwards that she doesn’t like to talk about Kelly Smith’s England scoring record. But privately, Ellen White will surely be disappointed if she doesn’t at least equal that record this evening. White’s winner against Austria was her 45th international goal. Smith has 46.
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Some thoughts here from Suzanne Wrack on Millie Bright after the win against Austria, a player who looks increasingly commanding in her centre-back role:
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News from yesterday:
“Nikita Parris has been sent home from the England camp for “a few days off” as Sarina Wiegman attempts to manage the workload of her players. “There’s not a big problem – she is OK,” the England manager said, when asked why the Arsenal forward had left the squad on the eve of the World Cup qualifier against Latvia.”
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Three changes from Wiegman for this evening: Beth England, Georgia Stanway and Lotte Wubben-Moy come into the side with Fran Kirby, Demi Stokes and Rachel Daly on the bench.
England: Earps, Bright, Wubben-Moy, Walsh, Greenwood, Toone, Mead, Stanway, White, England, Hemp. Substitutes: Charles, MacIver, Kirby, Carter, Daly, Nobbs, Stokes, Scott, Hampton, Russo, Zelem.
Four changes for Latvia, who have not played since the 10-0 drubbing by England, including a new goalkeeper in Laura Sinutkina, for Enija Anna Vaivode.
Latvia: Sinutkina, Tumane, Gaike, Freidenfelde, Lubina, Senberga, Zaicikova, Gornela, Voitane, Baliceva, Gergeleziu. Substitutes: Lindermane, Sklemenova, Lodzina, Rozascenoka, Smirnova, Vingrevica, Vitmore, Gricijenko, Skribina, Brahmane.
Here's your #Lionesses starting XI for tonight!
— Lionesses (@Lionesses) November 30, 2021
Thoughts? 🤩 pic.twitter.com/z0b5lakkpe
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Preamble
Sarina Wiegman’s England added a fifth win out of five in World Cup qualifying on Saturday, and it was by far the most demanding match of the campaign, with Ellen White’s 45th goal for her country – on the occasion of her 100th cap – proving the difference between the teams.
This evening’s match against Latvia in Doncaster should see a return to the regular programming of comfortable victories, unless something bizarre happens and Latvia transform themselves from the team that lost 10-0 to England in Riga last month.
England have now scored 33 unanswered goals in five matches, so a victory is all but assured, while it promises to be an emotional occasion for the on-form Millie Bright, who took the captain’s armband for the first time in Saturday’s win against Austria, and will do so again this evening on her return to the city and the stadium where her professional career began.
Pre-match reading, team news and much more coming right up.
Kick-off: 7pm
