The Tottenham striker scored twice in the first-half with the Three Lions heading into half-time with a remarkable 5-0 lead
Harry Kane has scored the most goals for England at a World Cup in 28 years, after netting twice in the first half against Panama.
The Tottenham striker netted the Three Lions’ second goal from the penalty spot and then, in a remarkable half of football, also scored England’s fifth in a completely one-sided 45 minutes.
Both goals came from the penalty spot, following Panama’s rough-housing tactics at corner kicks.
Kane subsequently becomes the first Englishman since 1990, after David Platt and Gary Lineker, to score three goals at the competition.
He is also the first ever player to score four goals in a World Cup group stage, topping Lineker’s three in 1986, and Roger Hunt’s in 1966.
The first penalty was, remarkably, the first England have scored in open play at a World Cup since 2002, when David Beckham netted against Argentina.
The second from the spot saw him become the first player in 44 years to score two goals in each of his first two World Cup games.
John Stones scored the first and fourth goals – becoming the second Manchester City player to score at a World Cup, after Trevor Francis in 1982, with Jesse Lingard curling a brilliant strike home from outside the box.
It marks only the fifth time that any country has scored five or more goals in a half at the World Cup, with the last such occasion coming in 2014, in Germany’s 7-1 rout of Brazil.
England have never scored five goals at a World Cup before, and the statistic becomes even more remarkable when it is considered that the goals were scored across 45 minutes, at a rate of one every nine minutes.
Furthermore, England have eclipsed Euro 2016’s total of four goals, in one half of football.