While Malta had the first shot in anger, it was England who opened the scoring, as Phil Foden sprinted down the right flank, cut the ball back, and saw defender Enrico Pepe and goalkeeper Henry Bonello somehow conspire to send it into the back of their own net.
The Three Lions should have had a penalty around the half-hour mark, as Harry Kane was brought down by Bonello in the area, but the referee inexplicably booked the Bayern Munich striker for a dive. VAR, amazingly, did not intervene.
England struggled to break Malta down thereafter in what was a dismal display but just after the 70 minute mark, Kane did get his goal, as he tapped home Bukayo Saka's smart cut-back off the back of a fine team move.
And minutes later, Declan Rice drove forward and smashed a curling effort into the far corner, although his strike was ruled out by VAR due to an offside.
GOAL rates England's players from Wembley...