Three headed goals give England a qualifying win over Scotland

England beat Scotland 3-0 in the fourth round of European qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. It was the 113th meeting between the two nations. Remarkably, all three goals were headers, and the result was England's biggest win of the qualifying campaign so far.

The captain Wayne Rooney returned to the starting line-up for his 119th England cap. He had been in good shape in the weeks before the match and fully deserved his place in the side, and his performance showed that Gareth Southgate had made the right call. Joe Hart, on loan at Torino, and defenders Rose, Stones, Cahill and Walker gave the Scotland forwards no chance in front of goal. Eric Dier, Jordan Henderson and Rooney pulled the strings in midfield, with Raheem Sterling and Adam Lallana on the wings and Daniel Sturridge up front.

England were the better team for the whole match and enjoyed 61 % of possession, but it still took them a while to make that dominance count. The opening goal came in the 23rd minute, when Sturridge headed home after a fine delivery from Kyle Walker, who had pushed forward to join the attack.

Southgate's side could not add to their lead before the break, but they came out even stronger after half-time and the second goal soon arrived. Adam Lallana scored the second goal just five minutes into the second half from a good Danny Rose cross. Ten minutes later Gary Cahill headed in Rooney's corner to make the final score 3-0.

It was arguably one of England's best performances of 2016, and a convincing early statement from Southgate's team in the qualifying group. The win took the Three Lions to 10 points and top of the group, while Scotland had four points and sat fifth in the standings.

The oldest international fixture

England against Scotland is the oldest fixture in international football. The first official meeting took place on 30 November 1872 at Hamilton Crescent in Partick, Glasgow, and ended 0-0 in front of around 4,000 spectators. FIFA recognises it as the first official international match. The Scottish Football Association did not yet exist, so the Glasgow club Queen's Park organised the Scottish side.

Southgate in temporary charge

The match was played at Wembley Stadium on 11 November 2016 in front of 87,258 spectators. Gareth Southgate was in charge only on a temporary basis. Sam Allardyce had left the England job in September 2016 after 67 days, following a newspaper sting, and the Football Association asked Southgate to lead the senior side for four matches while it searched for a permanent manager: the qualifiers against Malta, Slovenia and Scotland and a friendly against Spain.

England went unbeaten in those four games, beating Malta and Scotland and drawing with Slovenia and Spain. On 30 November 2016 the FA confirmed Southgate as permanent England manager on a four-year contract. He was the only candidate interviewed for the role.

How Group F ended

The return fixture at Hampden Park on 10 June 2017 was far closer. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain gave England the lead in the 70th minute, Leigh Griffiths then scored two free kicks in the 87th and 90th minutes to put Scotland ahead, and Harry Kane equalised in stoppage time for a 2-2 draw.

England finished top of Group F with 26 points and qualified for the 2018 World Cup unbeaten. Scotland ended level with Slovakia on 18 points but finished third on goal difference, which left them without a play-off place. In Russia, Southgate's England reached the semi-finals, where they lost 2-1 to Croatia after extra time, and finished fourth after a 2-0 defeat by Belgium in the third-place match. Kane won the Golden Boot with six goals, the first England player to do so since Gary Lineker in 1986.