There was such outstanding beauty to England’s performance but such a viciously ugly aftermath to this sweeping victory in which, in the words of the Montenegro coach, they confirmed themselves as one of the best teams in the world.

Pity Ljubisa Tumbakovic did not have the bravery to condemn the Montenegrin fans who racially abused Danny Rose and Callum Hudson-Odoi, an 18-year-old so brilliant on his full England debut who had to deal with this. And did so as assuredly as he played.

Thankfully, unequivocally and immediately, Gareth Southgate condemned it.

He stood up like his players stood up; like Raheem Sterling, who was excellent again, stood up as he pulled at his ears in front of the furious abusers after scoring England’s fifth goal. It was clear what he meant by that as he later confirmed in an Instagram post: “Best way to silence the haters (yeah I mean racists)”.

A lighter was thrown near Sterling, which was picked up by Hudson-Odoi and passed to the England bench, and an official complaint will be made to Uefa, who have to act and act hard. The evidence is there – Uefa’s own observer heard it, as Southgate later confirmed – and is overwhelming.