Harry Kane became only the fourth-ever player to hit hat-tricks in back-to-back matches for the England national team. His masterclass helped the Three Lions to an easy win in San Marino and confirmed qualification to the 2022 World Cup for Gareth Southgate’s men.England would have made it to Qatar even if they lost to San Marino, one of the world’s weakest national sides, by four goals. But that scenario was never going to come to fruition because their skipper Harry Kane had another belting night in front of the goal. He hit four first-half goals to increase his tally to 48 international goals. He made way for Reece James after an hour of play.Qualification: secured ✅The #ThreeLions are heading to next year’s @FIFAWorldCup! pic.twitter.com/x6cgOojZph— England (@England) November 15, 2021 Harry Maguire scored the opening goal, just as he’s done three days previously against Albania at Wembley Stadium. And there was an increased sense of déjà vu when the captain started banging the goals in. Two of his four goals were penalties, but they all count. San Marino simply couldn’t deal with the rampant English team who refused to take it easy and kept advancing towards San Marino goalkeeper Elia Benedettini – the man with one of the most daunting jobs you could think of.One win in thirty years: This is the worst national team in the worldAnd let’s talk about the England boss. Southgate has given Aaron Ramsdale and Conor Gallagher their England debuts tonight. That makes it a total of 50 players who have been capped during Southgate’s five-year era.The second half saw no slowing down as Emile Smith-Rowe, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Tammy Abraham and Bukayo Saka all found the net to make it 10-0 to the English team that finished top of their group unbeaten with a total goal difference of 39 for and just three against.July: Italy are crowned champions of EuropeNovember: Italy sent to the World Cup playoffs to qualify for the Qatar World Cup pic.twitter.com/f94RoIIBMk— B/R Football (@brfootball) November 15, 2021 In other groups, the biggest drama was seen in Group C, where Italy needed to win away in Northern Ireland and hope the Swiss don’t beat Bulgaria by a three-goal margin. The reigning European were struggling to break down their opponents already, but their night got a lot more complicated when the news of Switzerland’s 3-0 lead filtered through to them with around 40 minutes left. It meant that they needed a two-goal winning margin or they were going to play-offs. The time ran out with the Irish looking more likely to score – even though they didn’t need a result on the night.😬 @Azzurri will have to go through the play-offs to reach the @FIFAWorldCup! pic.twitter.com/vBtAgBFSB6— SPORF (@Sporf) November 15, 2021 So, the Swiss pipped Italy to the top spot and made it to Qatar at the expense of wasteful Azzuri. The European champions are forced into playoffs!So, at the end of the night, here’s which European nations have booked their place in Qatar, and which national teams will have to go through the play-offs next March:QUALIFIED – Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Serbia, Spain, SwitzerlandPLAY-OFFS – Italy, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Scotland, SwedenQATAR 2022 – EUROPEAN QUALIFIERSMondayGroup CNorthern Ireland – Italy 0-0Switzerland – Bulgaria 4-0 (0-0)/Okafor 48, Vaargas 57, Itten 72, Freuler 90+1/
Group ISan Marino – England 0-10 (0-6)/Maguire 6, Fabbri 15 og, Kane 27 pen, 32, 39 pen, 42, Smith-Rowe 58, Alexander-Arnold 69, Abraham 78, Saka 80/Poland – Hungary 1-2 (0-1)/Swiderski 62 – Schafer 37, Gazdag 80/Albania – Andorra 1-0 (0-0)/Cekici 74 pen/
Tuesday22.45: (5.10) B&H (3.70) Ukraine (1.78)22.45: (6.00) Finland (3.80) France (1.67)22.45: (1.12) Czech R. (12.0) Estonia (20.0)22.45: (10.0) Gibraltar (4.90) Latvia (1.38)22.45: (6.00) Montenegro (3.80) Turkey (1.67)22.45: (1.45) Netherlands (4.70) Norway (8.00)22.45: (3.25) Wales (3.30) Belgium (2.40)***odds are subject to change