Last night, the England national team made history with an emphatic 10-0 victory over San Marino in their final World Cup qualifier.
The win secured their passage into next year’s World Cup in Qatar and went into the record books as the team’s fifth biggest win in history.
It’s also the first team they’ve hit 10 goals in a game since another 10-0 triumph, this time against the United States in 1964.
Alas, believe it or not, a few results go above and beyond these figures.
A 12-2 win over the Netherlands in 1907 and 11-1 against Austria in 1908 both served as handsome successes. Poor old Northern Ireland, though, are the ones who have felt the heaviest wrath from the Three Lions back in the 19th century.
England 13-2 Northern Ireland – February 1899
The 1898-99 British Home Championship was won emphatically by England, with Scotland coming in as runners-up. In the tournament’s first game, they hit their stride by sticking an insane 13 goals past Northern Ireland.
The fixture went down in Sunderland. Gilbert Smith fired in an incredible four-minute hat-trick.
I don’t think England’s record win – a 13-0 win over Ireland in 1882 – will be beaten tonight, but you never know. We’ve seen multiple goals in injury time before.
— Si's Insights (@sis_insights) November 15, 2021
There were six goalscorers in total on a day that the boys from Belfast probably won’t be quick to acknowledge.
Northern Ireland 0-13 England – February 1882
In just their 14th ever international, England ran riot in Bloomfield.
It was officially dubbed as a friendly, but the performance more closely resembled a one-sided demolition. Howard Vaughton scored five, Jimmy & Arthur Brown got six between them and the hosts probably couldn’t quite believe what was happening.
So while the San Marino faithful may be embarrassed, they can take heart in knowing it didn’t get this bad.
England qualified for the 2022 World Cup in style ? pic.twitter.com/5cuRbAiVhz
— B/R Football (@brfootball) November 15, 2021
Will their biggest win ever be topped? It seems unlikely, but you never know with a squad like this.
Featured image credit: Getty
