Ruthless England slaughtered Scotland at Hampden but it was heartbreak for the Lionesses as they were pipped to an Olympic semi-final spot by the Netherlands.
Sarina Wiegman’s side hammered the Auld Enemy in their own back yard in front of 15,302 fans, but a 95th minute goal for the Netherlands against Belgium saw the Dutch steal the top spot in Group A by a single goal, at the expense of England.
It took just 12 minutes for the Lionesses to warm up the away fans in the freezing Hampden stands, with an opening goal courtesy of Alex Greenwood.
The centre-back was completely unmarked in the box as Beth Mead swung the corner in, allowing the Manchester City defender to nod the ball beyond Lee Gibson into the far corner of the net to give England the lead.
Just two minutes later the referee waved away claims for a Scotland penalty after Lisa Evans burst into the box, only to tumble to the ground under a challenge from Lucy Bronze.
The home side did almost find themselves level with a cross come shot from Rachel McLaughlin on the 22nd minute.
The attempt troubled Mary Earps enough for her to turn the ball behind, albeit the the resulting corner was quickly cleared.
England then looked certain to double their lead when Lauren James flashed the ball across goal only for Lauren Hemp to smash the ball off of the left hand post.
However the away side did add to their tally with two goals in two minutes – both at the boot of Chelsea striker Lauren James.
Scotland cleared an England corner but only as far as James on the edge of the box, who fired the ball past Lee Gibson, with the aid of a huge deflection off of Nicola Docherty, to go 2-0 in front.
And just one minute later it was James on the scoresheet again as she curled in a stunning strike from outside of the box to give England a deserved 3-0 lead.
It was to get even worse for the Scots one minute into injury time as Lauren James turned provider as she picked out Beth Mead at the back post, who lashed the ball into the top right corner as the first half ended 4-0 to England.
It was a triple change for Scotland at the break with Emma Mukandi, Rachel McLaughlin and Jenna Clark replaced by Sophie Howard, Fiona Brown and Jamie Lee-Napier.
And it took just three minutes from the restart for England to fire in a fifth with Fran Kirby getting in on the act with a close range strike after a terrific cross from Georgia Stanway.
Lee Gibson denied England a sixth when she blocked Lauren Hemp’s shot, with the away side then rattling the bar with a half volley through Fran Kirby.
The Scotland No1 was involved again minutes later when she leapt across her goal line to deny Alex Greenwood from a free-kick, which was expertly curled over the wall.
Both sides then went to their bench with Martha Thomas replacing Claire Emslie for Scotland. Meanwhile, Ella Toone and Alessia Russo replaced Fran Kirby and Beth Mead.
Kirsty Hanson was inches away from pulling a goal back for Scotland when she rounded Mary Earps but she couldn’t force the ball into an empty net from a tight angle.
Hanson was replaced just a few minutes later, with Abby Harrison taking her place.
Captain Rachel Corsie then stepped up to make a huge block to deny Georgia Stanway a sixth goal for England with just five minutes remaining.
Scotland came close to snatching a consolation goal in the first minute of added on time with a header from Martha Thomas which was pushed onto the post by Mary Earps, before England scrambled the ball clear.
England did finally add a sixth goal seconds before the final whistle blew with Lucy Bronze firing home to compound Scotland’s misery.
Remarkably it wasn’t enough to book Team GB’s possible inclusion in the Olympics as England finished second in the table, with the Scots ending their campaign bottom of the pile.
