Jordan Pickford bumped his England clean-sheet record above the 50-per-cent mark as Gareth Southgate's side put Hungary to the sword in Budapest and took a giant stride towards the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Everton keeper Pickford, one of his national team's standout performers in the summer European Championship final campaign, was scarcely troubled by a Hungary team backed by more than 60,000 supporters.

England drew the sting from feisty Hungary in the opening half and exploited the home team's wearying limbs with a burst of three goals in 14 minutes after the restart.

Raheem Sterling finished from Mason Mount's cutback to put England in front and the Manchester City player crossed for Harry Kane to head in his 39th international goal eight minutes later.

Harry Maguire's 69th-minute header squirmed through goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi and Gulacsi allowed Declan Rice's 18-yard side-footer to slip beyond him with three minutes remaining.

Pickford, who has 20 England clean sheets, could earn his 40th cap when manager Southgate's team host Andorra at Wembley on Sunday.

England hold a five-point advantage over Poland at the top of qualifying Group I, with a visit to Warsaw to face the Poles next Wednesday wrapping up the Three Lions' fixtures in this month's international break.