England Women storm to 20 goal victory over Latvia as Ellen White makes history
England Women have sailed to their biggest ever victory crushing Latvia 20-0, with four players scoring hat-tricks in a history-making game.
Ellen White broke England's all-time scoring record as she hit the back of the net three times to take her on to 48 goals for her country in total.
Lauren Hemp netted four times, while Beth Mead and substitute Alessia Russo also registered trebles in the Women's World Cup qualifying match in Doncaster.
The result smashed their previous record win of 13-0 against Hungary in 2005.
England took the lead in the third minute through Mead and didn't look back from there.
Beth England notched a brace, and there were also goals from Ella Toone, Georgia Stanway, with a penalty, Jess Carter, Jill Scott and Jordan Nobbs on a historic evening for the Lionesses, who were 8-0 up at half-time.
Their incredible rout was completed in the 88th minute as Hemp got her fourth to make it 20-0.
On breaking the scoring record, White said on ITV4: “I actually feel really emotional about it. It’s been spoken about for a long time and I feel very proud.
"I feel really proud of the girls tonight, we’ve got so many girls who scored their first goal for England.”
Asked what she would have said if told as a schoolgirl she would one day become England’s record goalscorer, White replied: “I’d say you’re having a laugh! It’s incredible.
"But I’m not stopping here. I still want to score goals for England.”
White also paid tribute to Kelly Smith, who held the previous record of 46 goals.
“To me she’s a legend, I have so much love and respect for her. She’ll always be the best for me," she said.
Harry Kane, closing in on the England men’s team’s scoring record, praised White’s achievement.
He said in a video message on England’s official Twitter feed: “Hi Ellen, I just wanted to send you congratulations on reaching the highest goalscorer for England Women – amazing achievement, fully deserved and I’m sure there’s a few more to come as well. Massive congratulations.”
It was a sixth win from six Group D games for England, their first six fixtures under Sarina Wiegman – a sequence in which they have registered 43 goals and conceded none.
Having seen her side beat Latvia 10-0 in Riga last month, Wiegman spoke in the build-up to this encounter of wanting another “ruthless” performance from England – and that is certainly what followed.