England passed their first real test under the German coach and showed they can rise to the occasion after all
At last England produced a statement performance under Thomas Tuchel as the Three Lions faced down the intimidating atmosphere in Belgrade and calmly thrashed Serbia 5-0 to take a giant step towards sealing their place at the 2026 World Cup.
Harry Kane struck first with a header while Noni Madueke, Ezri Konsa and Marc Guehi all scored their first goals for their country in a fifth win out of five that all but assured them of top spot and in Group K, giving them a seven-point lead over nearest challengers Albania with three games to go.
Kane and Tuchel warned of the hostile reception England would receive but they took the game to the hosts from the off. Anthony Gordon had two efforts saved from Djordje Petrovic and Kane missed a chance from close range but the pressure soon told and England led in the 33rd minute when Kane, taking advantage of some very slack defending from a corner, headed Rice's outswinging delivery in.
A wonderful second goal followed two minutes later, the best of the Tuchel era. The move began with Jordan Pickford finding James, and Madueke feeding Elliot Anderson, whose pass was helped on by a marvellous flick from Morgan Rogers towards Madueke, who bulldozed his way through the area before nonchalantly dinking the ball over Petrovic.
England had an invitation to sit back and protect their lead but instead went looking for more goals. The third arrived when the ever-lively Gordon collected a short free-kick and went for goal. Petrovic could only push the ball towards the danger zone where three players had gathered and Konsa eventually converted.
Guehi then got in on the act and bundled in a fourth after Nikola Milenkovic had been sent off while substitute Marcus Rashford rounded off a dream night by bagging a late penalty.
GOAL rates England's players from the Rajko Mitic Stadium...