Harry Kane scored twice as England thrashed Latvia 5-0 on Tuesday to secure qualification for the 2026 World Cup, while Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal were forced to wait to clinch their spot at the finals after being held 2-2 by Hungary.Elsewhere, pro-Palestinian demonstrations prefaced Italy’s vital win over Israel, and Spain took another step towards qualification with a big victory against Bulgaria.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listThomas Tuchel’s England brushed aside Latvia in Riga to make it six wins from six in Group K and guarantee the top spot before their final two fixtures next month – they have 18 points and an unassailable seven-point lead over second-placed Albania.Anthony Gordon opened the scoring before Kane produced a lethal finish, and then netted a penalty to make it 3-0 at half-time – the Bayern Munich striker has 21 goals in 13 games this season for club and country.Maksims Tonisevs scored an own-goal and Eberechi Eze added the fifth, with England now able to look forward to December’s draw for next year’s finals.“It comes rarely that you qualify for a World Cup, so the mood is very, very good,” said Tuchel. Kane scores England’s third goal from the penalty spot against Latvia [Carl Recine/Getty Images]Portugal held by Hungary despite Ronaldo scoring recordAll 12 group winners in Europe qualify directly for the World Cup, with the runners-up going on to the playoffs.Serbia are a point behind Albania after fighting back to …
