Sterling had a hand in four of England’s five-goal haul, breaking the deadlock midway through the first half at the end of a 25-pass move, winning the penalty which Harry Kane converted before two strikes early in the second half completed his treble and a special night for the Manchester City forward.

Sterling, still only 24, has become the complete forward under Pep Guardiola’s guidance at City. Southgate’s careful handling and support during much of a three-year spell in which he never scored an England goal in 27 games is now reaping its reward.

The England manager Gareth Southgate is pushing young players through one in particular Sancho had the vision and composure to play in Sterling for the first, then brought England’s fans to their feet with two quick-fire pieces of genius in the Czech penalty area.

And the substitute appearances of 20-year-old Declan Rice and Chelsea’s Callum Hudson-Odoi – the youngest player to make his debut for England in a competitive international, aged just 18 years and 135 days – gave another exciting glimpse into the future.

It was the first time in 138 years that England had fielded two players aged 18 or younger (Sancho and Hudson-Odoi) in an international

England are now unbeaten in their past 40 qualifying matches in the World Cup and Euros, winning 31 and drawing nine since a 1-0 loss to Ukraine in October 2009.

In Friday’s other Group A match, Bulgaria drew 1-1 at home with Montenegro.

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