Portugal cruise, England unbeaten in WC qualifiers

Cristiano Ronaldo helped an emotional Portugal enjoy a perfect start to their World Cup qualifying campaign as Thomas Tuchel's uninspiring England remained unbeaten on Saturday.

- Agencies

Portugal, playing for the first time since the death of their Liverpool forward Diogo Jota along with his brother Andre Silva in a car accident, took an impressive first step to the finals next year sweeping aside Armenia 5-0 in Yerevan.

Both teams observed one minute's silence before kick-off at the Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium in tribute to Jota and his brother who were killed in a crash in northern Spain on July 3, 11 days after Jota had married Rute Cardoso, the mother of his three children. Five-time Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldo was in sparkling form, Portugal's irrepressible 40-yearold talisman scoring in either half, the second a sizzling shot from distance, to take his record international tally to 140 goals, over two decades after his first.