England’s young and free-flowing team banished the ghost of past national failures with a record 6-1 thrashing of feeble Panama yesterday that included a hat-trick by Harry Kane and eased them into the last 16.
England’s biggest-ever World Cup win, featuring two penalties by Kane then a fortuitous deflection off his heel, also guaranteed Belgium’s berth in the next round.
“Not many players score a hat-trick at a World Cup, so I’m proud of it. We had fun out there too,” said Kane calling his third “one of the luckiest goals of my life”.
Ahead of their meeting on Thursday to decide who tops Group G, England and Belgium are level on points, goal difference and goals scored.
Yesterday’s game at a pulsating Nizhny Novgorod stadium left the shell-shocked Central Americans out of their debut tournament with nine goals conceded. It also eliminated Tunisia.
Playing from the off with an ease and trickery that contrasted with the stressed-looking England flops of recent international tournaments, Gareth Southgate’s team romped into a remarkable 5-0 lead at halftime.
Defender John Stones headed England in front in the eighth minute from a corner, losing his marker to angle home, before captain Kane made it 2-0 in the 22nd minute with a penalty after Jesse Lingard was pushed in the box by Fidel Escobar.
Lingard made it 3-0 in the 36th minute with a beautiful strike from just outside the area before Stones nodded in his second and England’s fourth from a cleverly worked free kick routine. Kane scored another penalty just before halftime.
The in-form Tottenham striker bagged his third after a 61st minute shot by Ruben Loftus-Cheek hit his foot and bounced over despairing Panama goalkeeper Jaime Penedo.

PANAMA COACH HAILS ‘BEAUTIFUL’ ENGLAND
Current World Cup top scorer on five goals after two games, Kane was then substituted, to an ovation from the nearly 2,500 England fans. He has scored all five of his shots on target.
Kane became the third England player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup game following Geoff Hurst in the 1966 final and Gary Lineker against Poland in the 1986 tournament.
Panama’s equal-sized army of red-shirted fans continued to dance and cheer on the ‘Canaleros’ (Canalmen) to the end.
Substitute Felipe Baloy rewarded them with a consolation goal in the 78th minute, sliding home a free kick that was Panama’s first goal in their debut World Cup.
But in truth, it was a humbling experience for Panama against a side known to get nervous and slip up against less illustrious rivals on the big stage.
“Panama is like a small young child in football. We are like virgins... England is totally spectacular, a beautiful team,” said Panama coach Hernan Dario Gomez, who went into the English changing room at halftime to congratulate Southgate.
“It could have been an even bigger score. I was feeling scared in the second half. What we did was to try to avoid a bigger catastrophe. We tried to keep the ball more in the second half and play in a more orderly fashion.”
For England fans, the pain of being knocked out in the last 16 by Iceland in the 2016 European Championship and a first-round exit without a win at the 2014 World Cup, was finally slipping away.
Southgate’s task now will be to keep his young charges’ feet on the ground, and guard against complacency whomever they face next from Group H’s quartet of Japan, Senegal, Poland and Colombia.

Southgate difficult to please...
England coach Gareth Southgate was keeping his feet firmly on the ground after England’s 6-1 World Cup group-stage rout of Panama, declaring “I didn’t particularly like the performance”.
With a grin Southgate explained to the BBC: “I’m being hyper-critical, but I didn’t like the start, I didn’t like the goal at the end. The bits in the middle were pretty good though!”
Southgate was speaking after a hat-trick from Harry Kane, a double from John Stones and another from Jesse Lingard saw off Panama and qualified England into the knockout stages.
England meet Belgium on Thursday.
Asked about possible changes to his XI to face Belgium, Southgate commented: “I want to keep the momentum, we have to think about the team we want to put out, it’s an opportunity for players who need a match who haven’t played for a while but on the other hand we want to keep winning.”
Reflecting on a record World Cup win for England, he added: “I was a bit anxious at the start, they (Panama) had six at the back and three in middle, but once we worked that out I thought we played some really good stuff for 35 minutes.”
Southgate’s main gripe was his defence allowing Felipe Baloy to score Panama’s first ever World Cup goal in the 78th minute. “At half-time we talked about one more goal to be top of the group, that’s why the goal at the end was disappointing,” he said.

England’s biggest victory at a World Cup
*The win overtook Russia’s 5-0 victory over Saudi Arabia as the biggest win in the 2018 World Cup.
*The 6-1 scoreline is England’s biggest-ever World Cup win, smashing the previous record 3-0 wins over Denmark in 2002 and Paraguay and Poland in 1986.
*The win over Panama was the first time England have scored four or more goals in a World Cup match since the 4-2 win in the 1966 World Cup final against West Germany and the first time they have struck five times in a first half.
*Harry Kane is the first England player to score a hat-trick at a World Cup since Gary Lineker against Poland in 1986 and the third overall, with Geoff Hurst getting a treble in the 1966 final.
*Kane is the top scorer at the 2018 World Cup, his five goals taking him ahead of Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Romelu Lukaku of Belgium.
*Kane has scored more goals than any other England player in a World Cup group stage, his five strikes overtaking the three goals Roger Hunt scored in 1966 and the three hit by Lineker in 1986.
*Kane is one goal behind 1986 Golden Boot winner Lineker as the England player to score the most goals at a single World Cup.