Gareth Southgate's "Three Lions" "touched" their absolute record, which was set in the previous competition, when they crushed Panama 6-1 in Russia 2018.

Before this match, however, the only time they had managed to score at least four goals was in the 1966 final, in extra time, when they beat (then) West Germany 4-2. Another match was decided in extra time, in which England scored four times, against Belgium in 1954 and the score was tied 4-4.

What makes the victory over Iran special in Qatar's World Cup opener is that for the first time England have had five different goalscorers in one game: Saka (2), Bellingham, Sterling, Rashford and Grealish.

In 2018 in Novgorod, the goals against Panama were scored by three: Harry Kane (3), Stones (2) and Lingard. In the 1966 final, Jeff Hurst scored a hat-trick and Peters scored a goal, while in 1962 against Belgium, the legendary Nat Lofthouse scored two goals and Ivor Broadis scored two more.

Matches with at least 10 goals

But let's look at the World Cup matches where at least 10 goals were scored in total: 12 goals in the Austria 7-5 Switzerland (June 26, 1954).

The highest-scoring World Cup match was played in June 1954 when Switzerland and Austria battled it out in a 12-goal thriller in Lausanne. The 7-5 final score broke the record for the number of total goals scored in a FIFA World Cup match.

11 goals:

Brazil 6-5 Poland (June 5, 1938)

Hungary 8-3 West Germany (June 20, 1954)

Hungary 10-1 El Salvador (June 15, 1982)

Brazil 6-5 Poland - 5 June 1938: Poland's 6-5 defeat of Brazil in June 1938 was the highest-scoring match in the first four 'editions' of the FIFA World Cup, before eventually being overtaken by Austria -Switzerland 16 years later.

Poland's Ernst Wilimowski (4 goals) and Brazil's Leonidas (3 ) both scored at least three goals for the first time in World Cup history. In parallel, the two teams saw one of their players "find the net" at least three times in the same match. This has only happened once since, in Austria's 7-5 win over Switzerland in 1954.

Wilimovski was only 21 years and 347 days old when he scored four goals in this match (thus becoming the youngest footballer to score more than three goals in a single World Cup game).

Hungary 8-3 West Germany - June 20, 1954: At the time of the 1954 World Cup, Hungary was considered the best team in the world. And the favorite for the "crown" of the world champion. The mighty Magyars showed their... disposition by thrashing West Germany 8-3 in the group stage, in a game in which legendary striker Sandor Kocsis scored four GOALS.

But West Germany got their revenge in the World Cup final, beating the Hungarians 3-2 against all odds. The nice thing is that he found himself losing 2-0, but "turned" the game around and ended the Magyars' 31-game unbeaten run.

Hungary 10-1 El Salvador - June 15, 1982: Hungary recorded another huge win in 1982, beating El Salvador 10-1 in Elche, Spain.

That victory remains the only time in World Cup history that a team has scored double figures in a match, with six different Hungarian players finding the net, including a hat-trick from László Kis.

But Hungary could not pass the first round and was eliminated in the first group stage, from the 3rd group of which Belgium and Argentina qualified.

10 goals:

France 7-3 Paraguay (June 8, 1958)

France began their 1958 World Cup run with a fantastic 7-3 win over Paraguay in their opening match. It was a "close" game in the first half, with the score ending at 2-2 at half-time, before even Paraguay... took a 3-2 lead in the 50th minute. But Just Fontaine's hat-trick helped France to a comprehensive victory in the end.

The French forward is one of three players to score at least three goals in two separate World Cup finals matches, along with Sandor Kocic (1954) and Gerd Müller (1970). In addition to that hat-trick against Paraguay, Fontaine scored four goals against Germany in the 1958 World Cup 'mini-final'.

The record for most goals in a World Cup is held by Fontaine, who scored 13 goals in a total of six matches at the 1958 tournament . This was the only World Cup tournament in which he competed, but he managed to "write" his name among the top scorers in the history of the competition.

9 goals:



Argentina 6-3 Mexico (July 19, 1930)

Hungary 9-0 South Korea (June 17, 1954)

West Germany 7-2 (Turkey - 23 June 1954)

France 6-3 West Germany (June 28, 1958)

Yugoslavia 9-0 Zaire (June 18, 1974)