World Cup Qualifying European Comprehensive: England advances ahead of schedule, Ronaldo sets scoring record

Xinhua News Agency, London, October 14 (Reporter Ma Bangjie) The 2026 US-Canada-Mexico World Cup European Qualifiers continued on the 14th. The England team defeated Latvia 5-0 in an away game and advanced to the World Cup main event two rounds in advance.

This is a contest with great disparity in strength. The Latvian team put up a dense defensive formation at the beginning, which once left the English team helpless. In the 26th minute, the game took a turn for the better. At that time, Latvia got an offensive opportunity and the team's formation was slightly higher, giving the opponent an opportunity to take advantage of it. After England defender Stones got the ball, he quickly sent a long pass over the top. Left winger Gordon received the ball and cut in and hit the far corner.

After breaking the deadlock, the England team played more freely. At the end of the first half, Kane scored twice. In the second half, Latvian player Tony Shefs scored an own goal, and then substitute Eze scored the fifth goal for England. The "Three Lions" won a victory.

England has won all 6 games in this World Cup qualifier, scoring 18 goals without conceding a single goal, qualifying for the group stage two rounds ahead of schedule. England head coach Tuchel said after the game that the team's high-pressing tactics were well executed and the whole team cooperated skillfully, creating the feeling of a club team. "It's a pleasure to coach such a team."

The Portuguese team had hoped to qualify from the group early that day. Facing the Hungarian team at home, the Portuguese team maintained a 2:1 lead until the stoppage time of the second half with two goals from Ronaldo. However, Hungary's core player Szoboszlai scored a "defeat" goal before the end, setting the score at 2:2.

Although the Portuguese team missed the opportunity to advance early, Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored two goals in this game, set a World Cup qualifying scoring record with 41 goals. The previous record of 39 goals was held by Guatemalan player Carlos Ruiz.

The Spanish team defeated the Bulgarian team 4:0 at home and currently ranks first in the group, 3 points ahead of the Turkish team behind them, which defeated the Georgian team 4:1 at home. The Italian team defeated the Israeli team 3-0 at home and currently ranks second in the group, 3 points behind the Norwegian team, which has won 6 games.

In other games, the Irish team defeated the Armenian team 1:0 at home, the Estonian team drew 1:1 at home with the Moldova team, and the Andorra team lost 1:3 at home to the Serbian team.