England Women make history with incredible 20-0 win over Latvia

England Women made history with an incredible 20-0 victory over Latvia in their World Cup qualifying clash at the Keepmoat Stadium.

Ellen White, Lauren Hemp, Beth Mead and Alessia Russo all scored hat-tricks as Sarina Wiegman’s team maintained their perfect record in Group D with a record-breaking win.

It is England’s biggest winning margin in history, beating the Lionesses’ 13-0 demolition of Hungary in 2005.

By scoring three goals, Manchester City’s White became England Women’s all-time leading goalscorer as she surpassed Kelly Smith’s previous record of 46.

There were nine other goalscorers for the hosts, with Ella Toone, Georgia Stanway, Jessica Carter, Jordan Nobbs and Jill Scott also getting on the scoresheet.

England controlled 86% of the possession against Latvia, having 63 shots at goal. Their rivals did not manage a single shot.

Record goalscorer White said: ‘I feel very emotional about [breaking the record.] It’s been spoken about for a long time.

‘I feel really proud of the girls, we’ve got some of the girls that have scored their first goal for England. I love scoring for England so seeing them score – they’re coming through now – so I feel really proud.

‘It’s incredible. I feel really lucky, I’ve had amazing support from my family, my friends, coaches, teammates and staff. But I’m not stopping here, I want to keep going – I want to score goals for England.’

White added: ‘I [look up to Kelly Smith] so much. It’s been spoken about a lot, going above Kelly Smith and breaking this record.

‘To me, she’s a legend. I have so much love and respect for her. I feel very lucky to have played alongside her, I was her team-mate. She’ll always be the best for me.

‘I just want to play well, be selected and help the team do whatever we can to make the crowd and England proud. We’ll just try and enjoy it.’

England head coach Wiegman, meanwhile said she is ‘very proud’ of White for breaking the Lionesses’ goalscoring record.

‘She has had a tremendous career, of course,’ the Dutch manager said. ‘This was a team performance, we kept on going. So many records were broken.’

Australia and New Zealand host the next Women’s World Cup, which is scheduled to take place in the summer of 2023.

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