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Harry Kane scored twice in England’s thrashing of Latvia, a result that secured their place in next summer’s World Cup finals - PA/Bradley Collyer
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On the night England resoundingly qualified for the World Cup, becoming the first European nation to do so and with a perfect record of six wins from six matches without conceding a goal, the fans chanted Thomas Tuchel’s name. Unfortunately for the head coach it was not the way he would have envisaged it.
Tuchel wants to add a bit of edge to England. He has certainly done that with the supporters who clearly took exception to him criticising how quiet they had been in last week’s friendly victory over Wales.
At a time when it should all be about booking that place for next summer’s tournament and dissecting how competitive England will be – and celebrating captain Harry Kane taking his record goals total for his country to a phenomenal 76 in 110 games (now 21 goals ahead of the previous record-holder Wayne Rooney) – instead the focus also fell on Tuchel’s relationship with the fans.
Maybe it will all just blow over but there was a point being made, time and again, with chants such as “Thomas Tuchel, we’ll sing when we want” and “are we loud enough for you”. There was also “where were you when we were s---?” aimed at the German and it did not feel like it was in jest from sections of the 2,000 travelling fans who stood in an open stand and in the pouring rain as the temperature plummeted.
Tuchel might laugh it off, might state it is better they chanted about him than a player, but he might also reflect on the wisdom of his criticism.
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‘I got a bit of stick today in the first half’ – Thomas Tuchel laughed off the chants from the stands in Riga - Getty Images/Mateusz Slodkowski
It all deflected away from England’s achievements as they claimed another 5-0 away win and Kane’s extraordinary exploits. The captain has now scored 45 goals in 41 qualifiers. This season he has 21 goals in just 13 games for club and country. Erling Haaland has the same total, with one game fewer.
As Tuchel made the long, long walk across the running track from the dug-out to the edge of the pitch there were more chants, asking him to “give us a wave” and “give us a song”. Eventually he gave a thumbs up but it felt more pointed than good-natured from the supporters as – certainly – was one aimed at Gary Neville for the former England international’s comments about angry, middle-aged white men and their “negative” use of the British flag.
On the pitch? By half-time England had racked up the same 3-0 scoreline by which they led Wales at the same stage and were heading to North America. It was a formality, as expected, and it was also the ultimate exercise in attack versus defence. England played so deep into Latvia’s half that their defenders, Ezri Konsa and John Stones, spent most of the time 20 yards inside it.
The full-backs were even further forward and that Latvian back-five was a back-seven at times. They were packed more tightly than the row of 24 trees that lined one side of the pitch in this three-sided stadium.
But they were sliced through by Anthony Gordon, who cut in from the left and beat goalkeeper Krisjanis Zviedris with a smart low curling shot into the far corner. With that goal, it was game over.
England take the lead!
Anthony Gordon finishes after a wonderful long pass from John Stones️#ITVFootball | #ThreeLionspic.twitter.com/kO4KItQTcj
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) October 14, 2025
In his 16th appearance for England it was Gordon’s second goal and his first for 11 months and with Bukayo Saka a shoo-in for the right it was a timely marker from the Newcastle United forward that he can fulfil the wide role on the other flank.
It will also have not been lost on Tuchel that it was a superb raking ball 50-yard forward from Stones – who he so wants in his side – that had picked out Gordon and caught Latvia off-guard with a sharp counter-attack. That is how to break down such a defence.
The response from the England fans? After a cheer it was “our support is…” followed by a couple of expletives and another of “are we loud enough for you?”. They then struck upon “1-0 to the library” and a distraction had become a theme.
Gordon had been the main threat. He had already set up Kane, after another run and a cut-back, with the striker volleying wide when he should have scored and later centred across goal with Kane unable to adjust his feet quickly enough.
Recovered from a slight foot injury and replacing Ollie Watkins, who withdrew from the squad after hurting his knee in trying to score against Wales, Kane had the ball in the net after just 43 seconds but that was ruled out for offside.
But, of course, it was inevitable that Kane did score, beating Zviedris from 20 yards with a powerful low shot after England pressed on the edge of the penalty area. He caught out Zviedris with the power, as he so often does in scoring.
Is that the goal that sends England to the World Cup?
Kane doubles England's lead with a fine strike
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) October 14, 2025
One goal became two on half-time as, after a VAR check, it was deemed Kane had been fouled by Antonijs Cernomordijs at a corner. The rest was a formality as Kane struck home the penalty.
More changes were made with Kane staying on in search of his hat-trick. The fifth goal, when it arrived, came from one of those substitutes Eberechi Eze who dribbled in from the left to beat Zviedris with another crisp low drive. The goalkeeper had already denied Kane who had one last chance. A free-kick. He sent it over the crossbar but he and England had the win and are at the World Cup? For Tuchel there was one last chorus of criticism from the fans.
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10:19pm
Tuchel is on cloud nine
10:06pm
Singing in the rain
10:01pm
Thomas Tuchel speaks to ITV Sport
09:47pm
Harry Kane speaks to ITV Sport
09:43pm
England have qualified for the 2026 World Cup finals
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09:41pm
The player ratings
Jeremy Wilson has run the rule and here are his match ratings.
09:37pm
Full time: Latvia 0 England 5
Book your flights. England are through to the World Cup finals for the eighth tournament running after a deservedly crushing victory in their first match in Riga.
09:36pm
90 min: Latvia 0 England 5
Kane takes a free-kick from 22 yards, awarded for a trip on him. He wafts it over.
09:35pm
89 min: Latvia 0 England 5
Latvia have a sniff of a chance with a counter-attack but again England are back in numbers and Grabovskis, who has come on for Ikaunieks, shoots. Burn drops to his haunches to block.
09:29pm
GOAL!
Latvia 0 England 5 (Eze) Made by Bowen’s tackle on halfway. The Hammers captain takes the ball in his stride and advances 15 yards then slips a pass outside to Eze who collects on the left, drives into the box, patiently waiting for his moment as he glides past two defenders then passes a right-foot shot into the bottom right corner from the left of the penalty spot.
09:28pm
84 min: Latvia 0 England 4
England are crowded out at the corner. The trumpeter tries to rally the rain-sodden troops.
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09:27pm
82 min: Latvia 0 England 4
Rashford pounces on a Henderson pass and accelerates to the byline. He cuts the cross back, looking for Kane but Veips is there first to boot it behind for a corner.
09:26pm
80 min: Latvia 0 England 4
Good tackle by Burn on Saveljevs stops a rare Latvia counter.
09:24pm
78 min: Latvia 0 England 4
Some of the air has come out of England’s balloon with all the changes.
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09:22pm
76 min: Latvia 0 England 4
Another goal and Kane would equal Jimmy Greaves’ record of six England hat-tricks. Eze and Bowen try to set him up from a corner with the Arsenal No 10 pulling it back to Kane at the edge of the area to shoot… and Zviedris saves with his feet.
09:20pm
74 min: Latvia 0 England 4
More subs for Latvia: Regza → Vapne and Saveljevs → Gutkovskis.
09:19pm
72 min: Latvia 0 England 4
Ikaunieks heads Eze’s corner away. England have lost their momentum.
09:18pm
70 min: Latvia 0 England 4
Burn → Stones
Rashford → Gordon.
Gordon raises his arms to clap the crowd. It’s a wonder he can see them.
09:17pm
68 min: Latvia 0 England 4
A couple of ‘scares’ for England when Daskevics rakes a cross into the box that Tonisevs flicks goalwards and takes a deflection that sends it past the post with Pickford. From the corner its the sub Daskeviks again with a shot that Pickford claws away and Ikaunieks tries to convert with a bicycle kick that flies wide.
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Hello Matt’s mum.
09:11pm
65 min: Latvia 0 England 4
Daskevics → Varslavans.
Spence is rampant down the right now and, having bagged his first assist after an earlier rabona cross, another, more orthodox centre is grasped by Zviedris before Bowen could reach it.
09:10pm
63 min: Latvia 0 England 4
After a couple of corners on the left with England looking for the coup de grace, Eze’s left-foot daisycutter is palmed away at full stretch by Zviedris. Gordon pounces, thinking he’s going to tap it in but goes flying, claiming a shove in the small of the back. The ref waves play on.
09:07pm
60 min: Latvia 0 England 4
That’s the signal for Tuchel to give three of his starters a breather:
Bowen → Saka
Eze → Rogers
Jordan Henderson → Rice.
09:02pm
GOAL!
Latvia 0 England 4 (Tonisevs og) Vicious inswinging cross from Spence is tipped on by the keeper and Tonisevs sticks out his leg to stop it reaching Kane lurking at the back post, haplessly but blamelessly deflecting it into an open goal.
England have a fourth!
And it's a moment to forget for Maksims Tonisevs #ITVFootball | #ThreeLionspic.twitter.com/Wrd7ZPZsIm
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) October 14, 2025
09:02pm
57 min: Latvia 0 England 3
Now Gutkovskis makes Pickford dive with a powerful left-foot shot that threatened the top left corner from 20 yards but whistled past the post.
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09:00pm
55 min: Latvia 0 England 3
Pickford is called into action when Ciganiks bends the ball up left wing for Gutkovskis to chase with Konsa in pursuit. The keeper comes out quickly but isn’t needed because Konsa makes a blinding sliding recovery tackle.
08:57pm
53 min: Latvia 0 England 3
Sam Matterface points out that Latvia are playing here at the multisport complex rather than their usual home venue, Skonto Riga’s ground, because kids were running on looking for selfies there. And fearing a Uefa fine they cannot afford if it happened again they moved it to a venue where the fans are in a different postcode to the players.
08:55pm
51 min: Latvia 0 England 3
Ciganiks climbs at the near post and flicks the top-right-corner-bound cross/shot out for a corner.
08:54pm
50 min: Latvia 0 England 3
England free-kick on the left for Tonisevs’ shove in Lewis-Skelly’s back. Rice will take and shapes to bend it in.
08:53pm
48 min: Latvia 0 England 3
Another tenacious tackle by Anderson triggers an England attack which breaks down when Rice’s pass to the left of the D for Rogers is intercepted.
08:50pm
46 min: Latvia 0 England 3
One change for Latvia: Tonisevs⇢ Jurkovskis. He was their bets attacker!
08:49pm
The rain thickens in Riga
England can and will make five changes. Latvia look despondent but they lack even one top-five league calibre player to give them much hope. Jurkovskis has been their only real threat down right.
08:36pm
Half-time: Latvia 0 England 3
A stroll in the park now after starting at the kind of tempo that pushed Latvia further and further back.
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Harry Kane scores his 76th England goal, his second of the night - PA/Bradley Collyer
08:34pm
GOAL!
Latvia 0 England 3 (Kane, pen) Stutter run as usual and the when the keeper goes to the right, Kane slots it into the bottom left.
PENALTY TO ENGLAND!
Kane makes no mistake from the spot #ITVFootball | #ThreeLionspic.twitter.com/gDDovHi89q
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) October 14, 2025
08:33pm
England penalty!
From the corner, Kane’s shirt is almost ripped off by Cernomordijs and after a VAR check England will have a penalty
08:32pm
45 min: Latvia 0 England 2
Kane almost scores two in two but his header is diverted wide.
08:29pm
GOAL!
Latvia 0 England 2 (Kane) Having wafted a left-foot shot wide moments before, now he cuts in off the right across the D and feeds a left-foot shot into the bottom left corner from 19 yards or so even though his standing leg gave way as he struck it. Goal No 75 on his 110th appearance.
Is that the goal that sends England to the World Cup?
Kane doubles England's lead with a fine strike
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) October 14, 2025
08:29pm
42 min: Latvia 0 England 1
Anderson snaffles possession on the left, strides into the box and tries to whip his shot into the bottom right but again it doesn’t bend sufficiently.
08:28pm
40 min: Latvia 0 England 1
England free-kick on the right after Balodis’ ankle tap on Saka earns him a caution. But Arsena’s acting captain hits the first defender with hsi left-foot cross.
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For Nicolato imitation is the sincerest form of flattery - Getty Images/Carl Recine
08:25pm
38 min: Latvia 0 England 1
Gordon again skitters in from the left and tries to thread a low, right foot shot through a thicket of legs into the bottom right corner. He almost makes it as well, only a nick off a Latvia boot sends it wide but the ref, inexplicably, gives a goal-kick.
08:24pm
36 min: Latvia 0 England 1
Gordon’s cross from the left goes all the way through the six-yard box after he dipped his shoulder, sold Jukovskis who went the other way and opened a path to goal. But Veips did enough to get in Kane’s way to stop him tapping it in.
08:22pm
33 min: Latvia 0 England 1
Ciganiks fells Spence with an ugly swipe at the ankles and goes in the book.
08:21pm
31 min: Latvia 0 England 1
Kane heads the subsequent corner away. Looking at the replay Konsa was quite lucky to get away with that. His arm was up like Ethan Ampadu’s for Wales last night.
08:20pm
28 min: Latvia 0 England 1
Jurkovskis down the right has been Latvia’s best attacking weapon. But he was the Invisible Man when Gordon scored down his flank. Now he spurts down the right past Lewis-Skelly, fizzes over a low cross that Ikaunieks tries to flick goalwards. The ball strikes Konsa on the hand from close quarters and the ref a shakes his head to penalty appeals. VAR agrees with him. Skelly
08:12pm
GOAL!
Latvia 0 England 1 (Gordon) Gordon receives the ball on the left when Latvia fail to find an outlet when hitting the ball long. Stones collects then picks out the winger with a 40-yard pass. Gordon drives infield, burns past Cernomordijs on the inside then arrows a right-foot shot from the left of the penalty spot into the bottom right corner.
England take the lead!
Anthony Gordon finishes after a wonderful long pass from John Stones
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) October 14, 2025
08:11pm
25 min: Latvia 0 England 0
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Djed Spence gets away from Dmitrijs Zelenkov - AP/Roman Koksarov
08:10pm
24 min: Latvia 0 England 0
Inricate move on the left of the area between Gordon, Lewis-Skelly and Kane breaks down when Lewis-Skelly fails to find Kane by a matter of inches. Rice’s corner was seen off in the middle of goal but Latvia cannot break the siege. Not so much a low block for them as being kettled in their own box.
08:08pm
22 min: Latvia 0 England 0
The England band is playing the theme from the Great Escape already. Bit premature. Spence whips over a cross from the right and Cernomodijs heads it behind for a corner to stop it reaching Kane’s run off Veips’ shoulder.
08:06pm
21 min: Latvia 0 England 0
Gordon skips over Jukovskis’s sliding challenge and makes it to the byline but the ball crosses the line before he can square it for Saka to shoot.
08:05pm
19 min: Latvia 0 England 0
Gutkovskis earns his side some respite on a solo break when he runs across Spence and draws the foul.
08:04pm
17 min: England 0 Latvia 0
England’s passing has been very good so far. Nice, urgent tempo and quick, sure offloads.
08:03pm
15 min: Latvia 0 England 0
Saka tries to send Spence down the left on the overlap but Latvia’s Ciganiks slides in to hook it away. England recycle over to their left and Gordon steps in off the flank to blaze a shot over from 20 yards while Kane was looking for a dinked pass down the inside-left channel.
08:00pm
13 min: Latvia 0 England 0
Saka plays a one-two with Rodgers then tries to wrap his left foot around a shot from the right and bend it into the top, left corner but he cannot persuade it to curl back towards goal in time.
07:58pm
11 min: Latvia 0 England 0
Anderson puts his laces through a half-volley from 20 yards but slices it and the ball swerves out towards the corner flag.
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Morgan Rogers looks for Declan Rice - The FA via Getty Images/Michael Regan
07:56pm
9 min: Latvia 0 England 0
First signs of life from Latvia in attack. Jukovskis whips over a menacing cross and Stones heads it away. Well read by the City defender who positioned himself perfectly.
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07:54pm
7 min: Latvia 0 England 0
Anderson wins a tackle, plays a one-two with Spence then sprays a pass out to the right. Lewis-Skelly loses the aerial challenge but Latvia can’t hang on to ot. Kane drives forward down the inside-left, plays it out wide to Gordon who centres first-time and Kane slams a shot into the hoardings, missing the near post by a yard or so. He should have scored, an easy chance by his standards.
07:51pm
5 min: Latvia 0 England 0
England fans sing: “Are we loud enough for you?” It’s an answer as much as a question for Thomas Tuchel who was miffed that they were so quiet at Wembley. England bossing possession and enjoying a lot of ball with slick passing between Saka and Rogers down the right, When they lose the ball Anderson snaps into the press to pen Latvia in their box.
07:49pm
3 min: Latvia 0 England 0
Rice drops between the centre-backs when England build from the back. The full-backs are indeed pushed very high. Rice sweeps a pass through the middle, looking for Rogers’ urbent run but the pass skips away from him.
07:48pm
1 min: Latvia 0 England 0
England kick off, attacking from right to left. Pickford is standing 10 yards outside his area and receives the pass, knocking it long. England stick the ball in the back of the net after Anderson chips it from the left for Saka in the right of the box and he squares it for Kane to bundle over the line but Saka was half a yard offside when he received the diagonal pass.
07:44pm
A female vocal quartet sing the national anthems
Latvia’s is quite the thing. Inspiring, no doubt, but a very mournful tempo. A pots and kettles criticism from the British.
07:41pm
The teams are out for the national anthems
Latvia play in all deep ‘carmine’ red, England in all white.
07:40pm
The opposition
Only of the Latvia starting XI play outside their country: Balodis in Slovakia. Ciganiks in Switzerland, Vapne in Norway and Gutkovskis in South Korea.
07:32pm
A final pre-match word with Thomas Tuchel
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Tuchel likes the lights - PA/Bradley Collyer
07:25pm
A (Tricky) Tree in Riga
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Elliott Anderson makes his fourth successive start at the heart of England’s midfield - Getty Images/Carl Recine
07:22pm
When a coach needs a loud hailer
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The dugouts are miles from the pitch in Riga - The FA via Getty Images/Eddie Keogh
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07:19pm
Marcus Rashford speaks to ITV Sport
07:07pm
Eighty caps for Jordan Pickford
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Jordan Pickford becomes the second England goalie to earn his 80th cap - Getty Images/Carl Recine
Pickford has only Peter Shilton ahead of him on 125 caps and is 31, nine years younger than Shilton when he retired. Pickford has 41 clean sheets so far, behind Joe Hart’s 43 and Shilton’s 66.
07:03pm
Latvia’s favourite Saint talks to ITV Sport
Latvia Southampton FC️
Marians Pahars speaks with Gabriel Clarke ahead of Latvia v England#ITVFootball | @SouthamptonFC | @gabrielclarke05pic.twitter.com/HrJE8MGors
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) October 14, 2025
06:42pm
Teams for the monochrome set
Latvia Zviedris; Vapne, Jurkovskis, Cernomordijs, Balodis, Ciganiks; Varslavans, Veips, Zelenkovs; Gutkovskis, Ikaunieks.
Substitutes Orols, Matrevics, Jagodinskis, Grabovskis, Daskevics, Savalnieks, Penkevics, Pulis, Tonisevs, Regza, Melniks, Saveljevs.
England: Pickford; Spence, Stones, Konsa, Lewis-Skelly; Anderson, Rice; Saka, Rogers, Gordon; Kane.
Substitutes D Henderson, Trafford, Guehi, J Henderson, Eze, Rashford, Burn, Gibbs-White, Bowen, O’Reilly, Loftus-Cheek.
Referee: Tasos Sidiropoulos (Greece).
06:32pm
Latvia make three changes
The 2-2 home draw with Andorra has cost Savalnieks, Savaljevs, and Sits their places. In come Roberts Veips, Janis Iakaunieks and Lukass Vapne:
06:26pm
England make two changes
Myles Lewis-Skelly comes in for Marc Guehi with Djed Spence moving to right-back and Ezri Konsa to centre-half and Harry Kane replaces Ollie Watkins. Jordan Pickford wins his 80th cap and is looking to stretch his record run of clean sheets to nine games.
06:25pm
What is Tuchel trying to achieve with this Bellingham circus?
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06:16pm
Rashford on the bench?
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06:14pm
The wisdom of Cruyff
“I could never manage AS Roma,” Johan Cruyff once said. “They have a running track around the pitch. That’s the worst thing there is.”
Sadly Daugavas has one, too. For a moment, there, it looked like they had filled the bends in with moats which would have been like going to a concert at the Crystal Palace Bowl 40 years ago but it’s just an optical illusion:
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Fancy a paddle? - UEFA via Getty Images/Tullio Puglia
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Dashed track covers - UEFA via Getty Images/Tullio Puglia
04:54pm
Betting on tonight’s match?
Advertisement | GambleAware | 18+Betting on the football today? Take a look at these best betting sites chosen by Telegraph Media Group
04:49pm
Preview: A sixth successive win would put England on the plane with two games to spare
Good evening and welcome to live coverage of the Uefa Group K qualifier between Latvia and England from Riga. A victory for Thomas Tuchel’s side tonight to make it six out of six would clinch qualification at the top of the group with two games to spare and even a draw would mean that they would win the group by taking a point off Serbia at Wembley on November 13. Given that they are yet to concede a goal and Latvia let in two from Andorra last Friday in a 2-2 draw, the prospect of another routine victory in what has become a global farce of a qualification campaign because of the expansion from 32 to 48 finalists seems highly likely. By the time Fifa’s imperial ambitions have been satisfied there will be 128 finalists for an annual tournament.
England were magnificent in Belgrade in their 5-0 victory last month and were back in the groove to slice Wales apart in the opening 20 minutes of last week’s friendly after some teething troubles as Tuchel juggled his resources. Alert to complaints that too many England managers – RIP Svennis – picked the best players rather than the best, balanced team, Tuchel has demonstrated his steel by leaving out Jude Bellingham. It has been portrayed as a power play, of course, but there is also more than a hint of pragmatism about it.
He seems to have learnt from his time at PSG by contrasting his own experiences with those of Luis Enrique who was given a clean slate and won their long-desired first European Cup. Tuchel now seems determined not to feel obligated to play galácticos if it distracts from or disrupts his most effective and efficient team. Having only nine months left on his contract gives him the freedom to do what he wants and no amount of renting of garments in Madrid will change that.
It can be hard to warm to Tuchel but it is not hard to admire his willingness to put his neck on the line. Tonight may turn out to be a cakewalk in terms of result if not performance, rendering the last two qualifiers redundant. England have gone from World Cup semi-finalists to Euro runners-up to World Cup quarter-finalists to Euro runners-up again over the past four tournaments and Tuchel has been hired to make the difference. A ruthless b------ as manager may well be that difference.
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