FIFA WCQ, England crush Albania; Italy draw: Records broken
England crushed Albania in the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers to put themselves in a commanding position in terms of earning a ticket for next year's event in Qatar. England need a point now from their final game. Harry Kane scored a hat-trick for the Three Lions in a rampant win. Meanwhile, Jorginho missed a last-gasp penalty in Italy's 1-1 draw against Switzerland.
Why does it matter?
England are in the driver's seat now, needing a point from their match against San Marino to qualify. The highlight however was Kane boosting his confidence with a sublime hat-trick. He has been struggling this season at club level. Italy and Switzerland both have 15 points to ensure the race for qualification goes to the final game. Jorginho's miss was a major talking point.
England put five past Albania; Italy rue penalty miss
England got all their goals before half-time to put Albania at bay. Kane was instrumental on the night. Harry Maguire put England ahead with a ninth-minute header. Kane got the second before Jordan Henderson added the third. Tottenham striker Kane then added two more. Meanwhile, Silvan Widmer scored for Switzerland before Giovanni Di Lorenzo headed Italy level. Jorginho's penalty miss proved to be costly.
Kane registers these records for England
Kane has raced to 44 goals for England, matching the tally of Jimmy Greaves. He has now scored 39 competitive goals for England, breaking Wayne Rooney's record of 37. As per Opta, Kane is the first player to score a perfect hat-trick (header, left-foot, right-foot) for England since David Platt in February 1993 against San Marino.
Kane gets to double figures for England in 2021
England have now scored 42 goals in 2021 which is their most ever in a calendar year, overtaking their previous record of 39 in 1908. Harry Kane has scored 12 goals for England in 2021, the second time he's netted double figures in a year along with 2019 (12 goals). He also netted his fourth England hat-trick.
Notable records for Italy
As per Opta, having scored each of the first six penalties taken for Italy, Jorginho has failed his last three, two against Switzerland (including penalty shoot-outs). Lorenzo has scored his second goal for Italy (both in the World Cup Qualifiers) and the first headed headed goal for the Italy side since October 2020, with Stephan El Shaarawy against Moldova in a friendly match.
