The 10 best England team performances in the Premier League era

#2 Germany 1-5 England – World Cup 2002: Qualifying Round

It was the result that gave England fans renewed hope following the disastrous reign of Kevin Keegan, and it remains the most one-sided game in the long rivalry between England and Germany.

At the time, such a result seemed impossible, but thanks to Sven-Goran Eriksson and his band of young, uber-talented stars, like David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Ashley Cole and Michael Owen, England fans were sent into dreamland for a 90-minute period.

It was September 2001, and Eriksson had been in charge of England since January. He had overseen a resurgence in the attempt to qualify for the 2002 World Cup.

But, despite wins over Finland, Albania and Greece, the shoddy results against Germany (0-1) and Finland (0-0) when Keegan and caretaker Howard Wilkinson were in charge meant that the Three Lions needed an improbable result against Die Mannschaft in Munich in order to avoid the playoffs.

After 6 minutes, it looked like curtains for England. They had started nervously and conceded a weak goal from Carsten Jancker.

But Eriksson’s young team were made of stronger stuff than Keegan’s broken down veterans, and Owen equalised just 6 minutes later following a Beckham free-kick.

England then took the lead right before half-time, a corner was cleared and fell to Steven Gerrard, who drilled home from the edge of the box with an outstanding shot.

The second half, saw England simply destroy their old rivals with quick-fire attacks and passing sequences that left the German defence looking completely haggard.

First, Owen scored a second following an Emile Heskey knockdown, and then he completed his hat-trick following a swift counter-attack set up by Beckham.

When Heskey scored the 5th goal for England following another counter-attack (this time started by a passing sequence between Beckham and Paul Scholes), watching England fans knew they were seeing something special.

The result inspired England to win the qualifying group and, Germany somehow got the last laugh by qualifying through the playoffs and reaching the World Cup final.

But, no team had ever humiliated Germany quite like Sven’s men did. “Heskey makes it five!” remains an iconic line in English culture. This was an earth-shattering performance.