Tuchel gives England blunt appraisal… but ‘loves’ Lewis-Skelly

Thomas Tuchel said he had wanted “more impact” from his wingers in a 2-0 win over Albania in his first game in charge that left Gareth Southgate’s permanent successor underwhelmed.

Marcus Rashford and Phil Foden started as England’s wide players for the opening game of their 2026 Fifa World Cup qualification campaign at Wembley Stadium, but both of England’s goals came from central positions as they saw off opponents they thrashed 5-0 on their previous visit in 2021.

“We can do better,” Tuchel told ITV Football. “We have to do better. We started quite well and had seven or eight minutes with 100% ball possession, with a lot of passes and high energy.

“In the second half, I felt we were too slow and, in general, there were not enough runs off the ball to get behind the line.

“We hope for more impact in [wide] positions – more dribbling and more aggressive runs towards the box. In general, that was missing. There was a bit missing – they were not as decisive as they can be.”

“He won’t have to worry about where he wants to play, because he won’t be playing” 😐

Roy Keane was not impressed with Phil Foden tonight #ITVFootball | #ThreeLions pic.twitter.com/dtmhP48Tht

— ITV Football (@itvfootball) March 21, 2025

Tuchel: Lewis-Skelly ‘amazing’

Full-back Lewis Skelly, who made his debut in senior football for Arsenal less than six months ago, coolly slotted in from Jude Bellingham’s perceptive ball in the 20th minute before Kane beautifully struck his 70th international goal from a Declan Rice pass with 13 minutes remaining.

Rashford, who is on loan at Aston Villa from Manchester United, made his first international start since November 2023 after a first call-up in almost a year, while Manchester City’s Foden made his second start in England’s last seven games and has not been directly involved in a competitive goal for his country since the 2022 World Cup.

Tuchel was more evidently impressed with Lewis-Skelly, calling the 18-year-old an “amazing player” with “amazing personality”.

“He came into camp and showed straight away that it’s normal to fall in love with him,” Tuchel added. “[His praise] is well deserved.”

“For England?.. I don’t think so” 😏@BellinghamJude with one of his best assists for the #ThreeLions tonight @England | @gabrielclarke05 🎙 pic.twitter.com/eRNtNZwHQm

— ITV Football (@itvfootball) March 21, 2025

Bellingham can produce ‘special things’

Asked about coaching Real Madrid’s Bellingham, Tuchel said there was “no doubt” that the 21-year-old is “a key player for us”.

“It was a fantastic pass to assist the first goal,” he observed. “I expect special things from Jude. He is ready to take the responsibility and we have to create an environment and structure where we can see more of it.”

Debutant Dan Burn hit the crossbar with a header before the break for England, who play their second game of the campaign at home to Latvia on Monday (19:45 GMT).

“He’s fearless” 👊@_DeclanRice sums up that dream debut from his Arsenal and England teammate @lewisskelly49 #ThreeLions | @gabrielclarke05 🎙 pic.twitter.com/GwrYmQLCqG

— ITV Football (@itvfootball) March 21, 2025

England World Cup qualifiers

As well as Albania, England’s Group K rivals comprise Latvia, Andorra and Serbia. Of those opponents, Serbia’s standing of 32 at the start of qualifying made them by far the highest-ranked team Tuchel’s side will face.

Serbia proved tricky opponents at Euro 2024, with only a Jude Bellingham goal separating the teams in their opener in Germany.

Including games as Yugoslavia and Serbia & Montenegro, Dragan Stojkovic’s nation have lost their last five meetings with England, although they held an impressive record of one defeat in their last 21 World Cup qualifying matches before the group began, winning 14 and drawing six.

⏪ Back in November 2021…

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿5️⃣-0️⃣🇦🇱 pic.twitter.com/JfIJQD39r0

— England (@England) March 21, 2025

Albania are one of five nations England have faced more than six times and won against every time, alongside Luxembourg (9), San Marino (8), Malta (7) and Andorra (6).

Latvia are ranked 140th and have never played England before, while Andorra are 171st and have lost all six of the encounters between the countries by an aggregate score of 25-0.

Ben Chilwell, Bukayo Saka, Tammy Abraham, James Ward-Prowse and Jack Grealish scored when England won 5-0 in Andorra in October 21.

Togetherness and creating a bond 🤝 pic.twitter.com/hkQRundhgg

— England (@England) March 21, 2025

England football team World Cup qualifying fixtures

All fixtures start at 19:45 GMT unless otherwise stated.

Monday, March 24: England v Latvia
Saturday, June 7: Andorra v England (17:00)
Saturday, September 6: England v Andorra (17:00)
Tuesday, September 9: Serbia v England
Tuesday, October 14: Latvia v England
Thursday, November 13: England v Serbia
Sunday, November 16: Albania v England (17:00)

Sound on for this one. 🤩🔊 pic.twitter.com/ozcnaDn58Q

— England (@England) March 19, 2025

England games: What happens if Three Lions top group?

The top team from each of the 12 European Qualifier groups proceeds automatically to the finals, which will be expanded to 48 teams.

Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Portugal, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, France and Croatia are among the other favourites to win their groups.

What happens if England finish second in World Cup qualifiers?

England will be eliminated if they finish third or below and enter the play-offs between March 26-31 2026 if they come second.

The 12 runners-up in each group will join four Nations League teams in the play-offs, which will be drawn from pots based on teams’ records during the campaign. The games will comprise single-leg semi-finals and finals.

The draw for the World Cup finals will take place in December 2025. The tournament runs from June 11 until July 19 2026.