The future has arguably never been brighter for the England National Team.
The Three Lions absolutely mauled it’s opposition, Montenegro, 7-0, on Thursday evening at Wembley Stadium. With the win, England officially qualified for Euro 2020 next summer, though that outcome never seemed in doubt, even from the start of qualifying matches in March.
England captain Harry Kane finished with a hat-trick, but it was Kane’s teammates that provided the bright spots for manager Gareth Southgate on a night where he played a very youthful side.
23y 255d - The average age of @England's starting XI tonight is 23y 255d - their youngest ever in a World Cup or European Championships match (finals and qualifiers included). Tykes. #England1000
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 14, 2019
22-year-old Ben Chilwell finished with three assists, 22-year-old Tammy Abraham scores his first England goal, and 20-year-old midfielder Mason Mount started and looked very strong as an attacking midfielder. 18-year-old Jadon Sancho was bright too and 21-year-old Trent Alexander-Arnold has clearly locked down the right back spot over Kieran Trippier.
Of course, the opposition quality of Montenegro, or other group stage opponents - Kosovo, Bulgaria - isn’t great. But England isn’t just beating the teams it’s supposed to beat these days, it’s absolutely pummeling them.
Playing in a fast, high-tempo style with links to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City and Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, England has scored an incredible 33 goals in qualifying through seven games. The Three Lions have scored five goals or more on five occasions, and the one win they had under five goals? A 4-0 win over Bulgaria at home.
7 - Following Tammy Abraham becoming the Three Lions' 430th different goalscorer (excl. own goals), @England have scored seven goals in a home match for the first time since October 1987 (8-0 vs Turkey). Heaven. #England1000
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 14, 2019
Its a long, long time in soccer terms between now and June 12, the start of Euro 2020. Plenty can go wrong between now and then, (injuries, poor form, end of season exhaustion) and Southgate will have a very difficult job on his hands settling on a final squad of 23-players.
But if this qualifying tournament has shown us anything, it’s that England has a set style of play, it will play it at home and on the road, and against any other team it faces. And that alone is reason for excitement as England fans wait with baited breath for the start of the next Euros, where England will surely get home games at Wembley.