World Cup qualifiers: Harry Kane hits hat-trick as England thrash Albania 5-0

Harry Kane scored a first half hat-trick as England thrashed Albania 5-0 in the World Cup qualifiers at Wembley on Friday. Gareth Southgate’s side now needs just one point from Monday’s trip to San Marino to book their place at Qatar 2022. Harry Maguire opened the scoring for the hosts before Kane extended the lead and then Jordan Henderson scored his first goal at Wembley to make the score 3-0 before the half-hour mark. Kane scored two more goals before the break to complete the drubbing.

Kane won an early free-kick as Klaus Gjasula tackled him from behind and the referee rightly booked the Albania midfielder. England made the visitors pay from the resulting free-kick, with Reece James’ perfect delivery headed home by Maguire at the far post within 9 minutes of kick-off. Few minutes later, Phil Foden’s shot from the edge of the box went just over the bar.

Although the hosts were looking comfortable, Kyle Walker almost handed Albania an equalizer as his terrible back pass released Myrto Uzuni through on goal. However, England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford came off his line to deny the Albania striker with a brilliant save from a one-on-one situation. 

Albania were forced into two early substitutions because of injuries and a few minutes later were regretting the missed opportunity as Kane doubled the lead in the 18th minute. Henderson combined with Foden before delivering a cross from the right side of the box for Kane to head in from close range.

Kane completes hat-trick with an acrobatic goal

The home side grew in confidence as the game progressed and  Albania were pushed to the back foot. Sterling almost broke through and Kane failed to convert from close range. Two minutes before the half-hour mark, Henderson combined with Kane to get inside the box before slotting home England’s third of the night. And then, a few minutes later, Kane cut inside from the left and released  a right-footed curler which was parried away by Albania goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha.

In the 33rd minute, Sterling’s through ball found Kane and the Tottenham striker produced a hammered finish into the far corner. The goal took him past Wayne Rooney as England’s top scorer in competitive games. In the first-half stoppage time, Kane completed his hat-trick with a sensational goal. The 28-year-old got on the end of a corner and scored with an acrobatic effort.

The second half was a cagey affair as England took their foot off the gas. Southgate used the opportunity to hand Emile Smith Rowe a first cap following a late call-up to the squad. The Three Lions would be hoping to get a positive result when they travel to San Marino and start thinking about the World Cup next year. With Poland winning in Andorra, England needs just one point against San Marino to confirm their place at the 2022 World Cup.

It was a strong team performance: Southgate

Southgate said after the match: “I thought it was a really strong team performance, particularly that first half. We had an edge about us tonight and we’re at our best when we have an edge. We needed a collective response from our last game. We’re clear why we felt we didn’t get that performance [against Hungary] and we addressed that in the first half.

“What pleased me most about Kane tonight was his all-round performance. We know he’s going to score goals. I liked the way he was aggressive in his hold up play, he was running in behind, his link play was on song tonight. He was helped by good movement around him from Raheem Sterling and Phil Foden in particular and the wing backs charging forward.”