Ellen White became the Lionesses’ record goalscorer as England overwhelmed Latvia to record their biggest-ever competitive victory.
White, 32, surpassed Kelly Smith’s record of 46 and her hat-trick means she now has 48 goals in 101 appearances for England.
The Manchester City striker needed just nine minutes to break the record, running to the corner flag with her arms outstretched before sliding to the ground and clenching her shirt after doing so.
White’s team-mates sprinted across to celebrate too and applauded as they took their positions for the retake when the new record was announced over the speaker at the Keepmoat Stadium.
It was a night of celebrations all round as Manchester City’s Lauren Hemp scored four – her first goals in an England shirt – while Arsenal’s Beth Mead and Manchester United’s Alessia Russo bagged hat-tricks.
Jess Carter scored her first international goal, Manchester United’s Katie Zelem made her debut and centre-back Millie Bright captained the side at the home of her first club.
Ellen White surpassed the previous goalscoring record set by England and Arsenal great Kelly SmithIn total there were 10 different England goalscorers – Ella Toone, Georgia Stanway, Bethany England, Jill Scott and Jordan Nobbs completing the rout.
The victory signified an end to a disrupted 2021 for England but was the perfect way to cap off an impressive World Cup qualifying campaign under manager Sarina Wiegman so far.
England remain top of their World Cup qualifying group with six wins in six games, having scored 53 goals without reply.
Their 20-0 victory surpassed their previous record competitive win, a 13-0 success against Hungary back in 2005.
“You want competitive games and these are not competitive games,” Wiegman said afterwards.
“In every country you want to develop the women’s game but I don’t think it’s good that the scores are so high. I know it has the attention of the federations and I think that’s good as I don’t think 20-0 is good for the development of anyone.
“We really need some top-level games now which we’re going to have [next year] because then we’ll really know where we are.”
Reaction to England’s win over Latvia & White’s record The making of Lionesses’ history-maker WhiteWhite ‘proud and lucky’ to break recordStanding ovation for emotional WhiteEllen White slid to the floor in celebration after scoring her second, record-breaking goalLatvia sit 94 places below England in the world rankings and having beaten them 10-0 last month, it was never expected to be a contest in Doncaster.
All the focus pre-match was around White’s pursuit of the goalscoring record and she did not keep supporters waiting long.
Such was the ruthlessness of England’s opening 23 minutes that the scoreboard operator was overwhelmed by the action and showed the score as 6-0 while it was still only 5-0, before Mead ensured the goals caught up with the scoreboard.
The damage had been done in those opening stages, ensuring a carnival atmosphere broke out at the Keepmoat with drums, Mexican waves, and countless flags in the stands.
The biggest cheer unsurprisingly came when White broke the record – the visibly emotional striker took a moment to close her eyes and take it in while grabbing the badge on her shirt.
She was greeted on the touchline by friend and City team-mate Scott as she headed down the tunnel for half-time, before being congratulated by other substitutes Fran Kirby and Demi Stokes.
In the space of three days, White has become a Lionesses centurion, their record goalscorer and a hat-trick hero.
She will not forget this week any time soon and rightly received a standing ovation when she was substituted early in the second half.
The scenes at full-time were just as memorable. Four match balls were brought out for the quartet who netted three or more goals and White said afterwards she tried to throw hers to her mum in the stands to hold.
Instead she kicked it ahead of her as she joined the rest of the England team on a lap of honour.
48 – Ellen White46 – Kelly Smith44 – Kerry Davis40 – Karen Walker, Fara Williams35 – Hope Powell33 – Eni Aluko32 – Karen Carney30 – Gillian Coultard28 – Marieanne Spacey
Player of the match
HempLauren Hemp
with an average of 8.23
EnglandSquad number11Player nameHemp
Squad number9Player nameWhite
Squad number22Player nameRusso
Squad number8Player nameStanway
Squad number7Player nameMead
Squad number5Player nameGreenwood
Squad number10Player nameEngland
Squad number18Player nameNobbs
Squad number6Player nameToone
Squad number4Player nameWalsh
Squad number20Player nameScott
Squad number15Player nameCarter
Squad number23Player nameZelem
Squad number3Player nameWubben-Moy
Squad number2Player nameBright
Squad number1Player nameEarps
LatviaSquad number23Player nameSinutkina
Squad number12Player nameSklemenova
Squad number2Player nameTumane
Squad number19Player nameSkribina
Squad number4Player nameGaike
Squad number7Player nameSenberga
Squad number14Player nameVengrevica
Squad number10Player nameGornell
Squad number16Player nameVitmore
Squad number5Player nameFreidenfelde
Squad number8Player nameZaicikova
Squad number15Player nameBaliceva
Squad number17Player nameGricijenko
Squad number6Player nameLubina
Squad number13Player nameVoitane
Squad number22Player nameGergeleziu
Line-upsEnglandFormation 3-5-2
1Earps
2Bright3Wubben-Moy5Greenwood
7Mead8Stanway4Walsh6Toone11Hemp
10England9White
1Earps2BrightSubstituted forCarterat 45’minutes3Wubben-Moy5Greenwood7Mead8StanwaySubstituted forScottat 60’minutes4WalshSubstituted forZelemat 71’minutes6TooneSubstituted forNobbsat 45’minutes11Hemp10England9WhiteSubstituted forRussoat 60’minutesSubstitutes12Charles13MacIver14Kirby15Carter16Daly18Nobbs19Stokes20Scott21Hampton22Russo23ZelemLatviaFormation 4-2-3-1
23Sinutkina
13Voitane22Gergeleziu6Lubina2Tumane
10Gornell4Gaike
7Senberga15Baliceva8Zaicikova
5Freidenfelde
23SinutkinaSubstituted forSklemenovaat 45’minutes13Voitane22Gergeleziu6Lubina2TumaneBooked at 52mins10Gornell4GaikeSubstituted forVitmoreat 45’minutes7SenbergaSubstituted forVengrevicaat 68’minutes15BalicevaSubstituted forGricijenkoat 85’minutes8Zaicikova5FreidenfeldeSubstituted forSkribinaat 56’minutesSubstitutes1Lindermane3Lodzina9Rozasconoka11Smirnova12Sklemenova14Vengrevica16Vitmore17Gricijenko19Skribina20BrahmaneReferee:Veronika Kovarova
Attendance:10,402
Live TextMatch ends, England 20, Latvia Women 0.
Second Half ends, England 20, Latvia Women 0.
Attempt missed. Bethany England (England) header from the centre of the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Beth Mead with a cross.
Goal! England 20, Latvia Women 0. Lauren Hemp (England) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal following a corner.
Attempt blocked. Jill Scott (England) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Katie Zelem with a cross.
Corner, England. Conceded by Sofija Gergeleziu.
Attempt saved. Lauren Hemp (England) left footed shot from very close range is saved in the top left corner.
Corner, England. Conceded by Selga Vitmore.
Substitution, Latvia Women. Erika Gricijenko replaces Tatjana Baliceva.
Goal! England 19, Latvia Women 0. Bethany England (England) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the top right corner. Assisted by Lauren Hemp.
Attempt missed. Lauren Hemp (England) left footed shot from the right side of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Lotte Wubben-Moy.
Attempt saved. Katie Zelem (England) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Alessia Russo.
Goal! England 18, Latvia Women 0. Alessia Russo (England) header from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner.
Goal! England 17, Latvia Women 0. Alessia Russo (England) header from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Beth Mead with a cross.
Goal! England 16, Latvia Women 0. Jordan Nobbs (England) right footed shot from outside the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Alex Greenwood.
Offside, Latvia Women. Sandra Voitane tries a through ball, but Tatjana Baliceva is caught offside.
Goal! England 15, Latvia Women 0. Lauren Hemp (England) left footed shot from outside the box to the high centre of the goal. Assisted by Jill Scott.
Attempt missed. Bethany England (England) header from the centre of the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Beth Mead with a cross following a corner.
Corner, England. Conceded by Viktorija Zaicikova.
Alessia Russo (England) hits the bar with a left footed shot from very close range. Assisted by Katie Zelem.