England sets the standard with Serbia rout: Tuchel

Thomas Tuchel urged "amazing" England to use its 5-0 demolition of Serbia as the standard it must maintain on the road to next year's World Cup.

Tuchel's side finally delivered the first eye-catching performance of the German's reign, as Serbia was swatted aside in Belgrade.

Goals from Harry Kane, Noni Madueke, Ezri Konsa, Marc Guehi and Marcus Rashford moved England closer to qualifying for the FIFA showpiece in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The Three Lions sit top of Group K after five successive victories, with 13 goals scored and none conceded.

They need a maximum of five points from their last three games to book their spot at the tournament.

Criticized for a series of lackluster displays in his first five matches, Tuchel was relieved to see England produce the kind of vibrant show he had promised after succeeding Gareth Southgate.

"I told you! Yes, you need a bit of trust in what we're doing. We tell you what we feel, and we see what we see in camp. I don't lie to you. If I didn't see it I would say we're not there yet," he said.

"We've only had three weeks of training and that's normally half a preseason. It takes time and, in between, there are weeks of pause.

"Today is a statement victory against a difficult opponent in a difficult environment.

"There was no negative attitude on the pitch. For me, it was teamwork in its purest form.

"We played football to a high level. The players did excellent. The credit goes to them, they did amazing. That's the bar."

Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford didn't have to make a save, as Serbia didn't manage a shot on target. England had 12.

After successive runner-up finishes in the European Championship under Southgate, former Bayern Munich and Chelsea boss Tuchel has been tasked with winning England's first major trophy since the 1966 World Cup.

England's drab 2-0 win against minnow Andorra in Birmingham on Saturday had raised questions about Tuchel's ability to extract the maximum from his talented squad.

'We made them look average'

But, its impressively mature effort in the hostile Rajko Mitic Stadium provided evidence that Tuchel is on the right track, although much sterner tests will lie ahead.

"I'm more than happy for the team and staff. We had an excellent week from start to finish. We've just proved what I've seen every day in this camp, and this makes me very happy," Tuchel said.

"We played with a lot of intensity, a lot of teamwork and we showed our quality.

"We kept Serbia to no shots on target, and you have to put in a lot of work that you do not get praise for. It is good to see.

"I'm very sure that everyone, staff and players, feel what this means. This camp was the benchmark."

England captain Kane has thrived since Tuchel took charge, and his 74th international goal set the tone for the rout in Belgrade.

Kane was impressed with the way England took the attack to Serbia right from the start.

"I spoke a lot yesterday about how we wanted to play, being on the front foot and being aggressive, and I think we showed our level today," he said.

"We scored five and made it look comfortable. Serbia is a good team, and we made them look average tonight."

Hitting back at the critics of England's underwhelming form prior to the goal spree against Serbia, Kane added: "We felt we had a good performance a few days ago.

"I know it wasn't the performance that everyone was excited about, but we did what we had to.

"We can be proud of ourselves. It has been a great camp, and we are in a great position."

Haaland scores five

Bearing stitches on his face from a bizarre accident with a bus door, Erling Haaland made his mark for the Norwegian national team by scoring five goals in an 11-1 win over Moldova in World Cup qualifying Tuesday.

The Manchester City striker had a hat-trick by halftime, but didn't stop there, finishing the game with Norway's second, third, fourth, sixth and 10th goals in one of the all-time biggest wins in European World Cup qualification.

Haaland did it all after requiring three stitches for getting "banged out" by the door of a bus, as he described it on social media, in an unusual accident that reportedly occurred while exiting the vehicle at the team hotel.

Haaland scored two of his goals off passes from Arsenal's Martin Odegaard, who also had a goal of his own.

Felix Myhre scored one and set up Haaland's first, while substitute Thelo Aasgaard was in the unusual position of scoring four goals, but not being his team's top scorer.

Even Moldova's goal was scored by a Norwegian, when defender Leo Ostigard sent an attempted pass into his own net.

It was the biggest win of this World Cup qualifying cycle in Europe, surpassing an 8-0 victory for the Netherlands over Malta in June, and came close to the all-time European qualification record, a 12-0 win by West Germany against Cyprus in 1969.

It equaled Norway's largest margin of victory in a competitive game.

Moldova, ranked 154th in the world and sixth from last in Europe, has lost all five of its qualifying games and conceded a total 25 goals, scoring only three.

Even so, a quirk of the qualifying system means it still has a chance of reaching the World Cup.

Moldova won its group in the lowest tier of the Nations League and, as a result, could end up receiving a spot in the playoff round.

France clings on

France twice overturned deficits to register back-to-back wins, as it opened its bid to reach next year's soccer showpiece.

Iceland made a dream start at the Parc des Princes, as Andri Gudjohnsen, son of former Chelsea striker Eidur and playing alongside younger brother Daniel, put the away team ahead in the 21st minute.

France equalized on the stroke of half-time through a Kylian Mbappe penalty. Mbappe then turned provider as Didier Deschamps' men moved in front, racing onto Aurelien Tchouameni's ball over the top, before squaring for Bradley Barcola to tap into an empty net.

Les Bleus clung on for a 2-1 success, despite Tchouameni's sending off after a yellow card for crashing his studs into the shin of Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson was upgraded to red on review, and a late effort from Andri Gudjohnsen being disallowed by VAR.

France, World Cup runner-up in 2022, sits three points clear of Iceland in Group D, with Ukraine and Azerbaijan two points further adrift after playing out a 1-1 draw in Baku.

"We were punished for our only mistake. We created lots of chances but we are capable of doing better," said Deschamps.

AFP