On Friday, Thomas Tuchel took charge of his first game as England boss. The Three Lions beat Albania 2-0 at Wembley and then three days later backed up that result by seeing off Latvia 3-0, also in London. It was a solid start for both the team and their new German boss and about par for the course in terms of what was expected.
It does not tell us all that much about England’s chances of going all the way in North America next year, nor give us too many clues about what we can expect to change. The manager himself said that “there is still room to improve” but that “there are a lot of positives to take away”. It is hard to argue with that analysis and given how little time the England boss gets to work with his players, it is clear that radical change will not be possible.
Thankfully for fans of the Three Lions, the team do not need huge changes in order to finally end the nation’s long wait for silverware. England have made consecutive finals at the European Championship, as well as the semis and then quarters at the World Cup. Tuchel just needs to find a way to take that next step and turn finalists into winners.
Qualification Shouldn’t Be a Worry
England’s record in qualifiers has been strong for many years now, as one would expect from a team consistently ranked among the game’s elite. They are now going into tournaments with a belief that they can win them and an expectation that they should reach the last eight at the very least.
Tuchel’s men were drawn in Group K of UEFA World Cup qualifying and it was a relatively kind draw. As a perennial top seed they are used to this but even so, playing alongside Albania, Latvia, Serbia and Andorra is just about as kind a draw as they could have hoped for. Only the team finishing top of the group qualifies for the World Cup, set to be held in Mexico, Canada and the USA, but the nation in second will progress to the play-off round.
England now have six points from six and will fully expect to be top of the pile when all of their eight group clashes are played. They travel to Andorra in June and then host the minnows in September. Three days after that they face perhaps their toughest test with a trip to Serbia and if they win, or even draw, that one, they should have what it takes to book their spot at next summer’s tournament.
In mid-October they travel to Latvia, facing a tough double-header a month later when they play Serbia at Wembley and then face Albania in Tirana for their last match. Tuchel will hope that his side have things sewn up before then though and whilst both Albania and Serbia are decent outfits, England should have far too much for both.
England 2-0 Albania: Lions Control Dull Affair
Off to a winning start 🙌
A 2-0 success to start the Thomas Tuchel era and our @FIFAWorldCup qualifying campaign. pic.twitter.com/lXJYDIJsHA
— England (@England) March 21, 2025
Fans who watched Albania’s spirited efforts at Euro 2024, when they drew with Croatia and only lost by a single goal to Italy and Spain, may feel we are doing them a disservice by writing their chances off. However, it should be noted that in this game at Wembley they managed just three shots, none of which were on target. They had 26% of the ball and boasted an xG of just 0.06 and whilst they occasionally threatened in the second half there was only ever going to be one winner.
It may well be a different game in Tirana but if anything England might win more easily against a team that comes out to play a little more, and given Tuchel will have had longer with his new players. Myles Lewis-Skelly got the opening goal of the Tuchel era after just 20 minutes, poking through the keeper’s legs after a fabulous through ball from Jude Bellingham.
Captain Harry Kane got the second after 77 minutes to make sure of the points but overall it was an uninspired performance. Dan Burn made his international bow but England did not move the ball quickly or crisply enough and it was certainly a professional, rather than a scintillating or entertaining performance.
England 3-0 Latvia: More of the Same
Three goals and three points for the #ThreeLions 👏
A solid start to our @FIFAWorldCup qualifying campaign under Thomas Tuchel. pic.twitter.com/YqgoHlNzFr
— England (@England) March 24, 2025
Just a few days later Tuchel rang the changes a little but his side had the same problems, albeit against a Latvia side that were content to sit very deep and try and hold out for a draw. They frustrated England until a sumptuous free-kick from Reece James broke the deadlock after 38 minutes.
Kane then scored yet again, after a nice England move down the right, after 69 minutes, before sub Eberechi Eze made sure of things eight minutes later. Eze’s goal followed a typical jinking run, even if he had a little luck with a deflection.
England created more in this clash and yet again restricted their opponents to very little. Latvia managed just two shots, with one on target, but as always with England, certainly over the past decade or so, the issue is not seeing off teams like Latvia and Albania, but having the class and belief to mix it with the very best nations in the world.
What Have We Learned and What Can We Expect?
As we said at the start of this feature, we have not learned all that much, but there are certainly a few questions that have been answered. Tuchel is known for being tactically flexible so there were questions over what formation he would favour. It seems he will probably opt for the 4-2-3-1 that many of the players in the squad are familiar with.
It seems that he is also keen to use Lewis-Skelly as an inverted full-back, giving England an extra man in midfield when on the ball. The Arsenal man settled into life as an England player with consummate ease and the Three Lions may now have an answer to the left-back problem.
On the right, we got a reminder of just how good James can be and if he stays fit between now and the World Cup, and Lewis-Skelly continues to grow and improve, England may have filled two of the positions where there had been serious doubts.
What remains to be seen is how Tuchel deploys Bellingham. He has spoken of him being a hybrid number 10 and number eight and across both games he played in a few different positions. How the German uses Phil Foden, Cole Palmer and others is also unclear but one thing that will please fans is that he has spoken of a commitment to fast, physical, English-style football.
Ultimately England have done what they had to do, done all they realistically could do, and beaten the teams that were in front of them. That will be their task again in June and September, against Andorra, before their first mini-test when they travel to Serbia.