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Updated 13m ago
England retained their 100 per cent record in 2026 World Cup qualifying with a 2-0 win against Serbia at Wembley Stadium.
Bukayo Saka fired England ahead with a cool, side-footed volley before Nico O’Reilly saw a deflected effort hit the post.
In the second half, sub Eberechi Eze hit the bar before scoring England’s second with a sublime strike. Attacking midfielders Eze, Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden all impressed with strong performances off the bench.
GO FURTHER
England 2 Serbia 0: How did O’Reilly do at left-back? What impact did Bellingham, Eze and Foden make from bench?
The pressure will be on — in the loosest sense — when England next play on Sunday, away against Albania.
That will be the last match of their World Cup qualifying campaign and a chance to ensure their record goes unblemished. England's place at next summer's tournament is confirmed while Albania know that, regardless of the result of Sunday, they will go into the play-offs.
That all means that Serbia's slim hopes of a World Cup have been dashed — they have nothing but pride to play for when they host Latvia on Sunday.
Some names seem nailed on.
Jordan Pickford, Declan Rice and Harry Kane among them.
But there is plenty of time for new and returning faces to stake a claim to a starting place in this team. The competition is good.
Discussing the impact of new arrivals Nico O'Reilly and Adam Wharton, Tuchel hailed the culture upheld by senior players.
💬 “We observe them, we get to know them in camp. We build a core of leaders in the team, to drive standards, and build a welcoming atmosphere to encourage them to be the best versions of themselves.
“Nico had a fantastic debut today, seems to be very shy, doesn't speak a lot but is very intelligent on the pitch and adapted very well to what we demand from him.
“Full credit to everyone. The (senior) players take care of the culture, the standard.”
England manager Tuchel went on to describe Phil Foden's performance and his false-nine role in attack.
💬 “It was a good match for Phil. With Phil, you see he is full of confidence. He is feeling light, he is a joy to watch, you could tell from his first touches on the pitch.
“He can play anywhere but I like to have him in the centre of the pitch, having connections with other players, and he did well. It's a big task to challenge Harry (Kane), whose finishing ratio is out of this world.
“I wanted to see Phil close to his opponent's box, in traffic, surrounded by a lot of players, and he did excellently. In matches where we need to unlock an opponent, he can always be a choice.”
England manager Thomas Tuchel chatted to the media after the match about the impact of his subs — here's what he had to say.
💬 “We wanted to have quality and impact and new energy from the bench, which we got. Everyone was there to have an impact.
“I like ‘bomb squad’ description a bit more than ‘finisher’! This is not about building a starting XI, it's about building a team. Sometimes (players) are disappointed (not to be picked), this is normal, but they buy into the team.
“Only a strong team can put disappointment behind them, put ego behind them, it's the only way. It's the right energy, treating everyone with respect. We need everybody fully involved mentally to accept matchday decisions.”
This photo feels primed for a ‘spot the ball’ competition.
Who won this challenge? We will never know but England were winners on the night.
For a dramatic night of weather!
It certainly made for interesting conditions and a slippery pitch for the players.
Have England found their starting left-back?
It certainly feels that way after a really impressive debut from the Manchester City defender.
He slotted straight into the team, was comfortable defensively and added plenty going forward.
Another win to keep England’s perfect World Cup qualifying record going strong.
There was no sign of complacency in that performance led by captain Harry Kane — he will expect the same again on Sunday against Albania.
There was a slightly worrying five or 10-minute spell where the defensive level dropped a little and Serbia had a few chances in quick succession.
Avoiding those sloppy periods in matches will be important as England are tested against better sides.
From a personnel perspective, Stones, Anderson and Saka impressed, with encouraging showings for James, Eze and Bellingham.
Alongside the usual allowances for a generally limited opponent, Tuchel will be relatively pleased with how things went today tactically.
And it has become something of a trademark celebration now for Eberechi Eze!
Eberechi Eze here, channeling Edvard Munch’s The Scream after England missed a presentable opportunity.
The Arsenal attacking midfielder is such an expressive player at his best. His late first-time strike finally put a smile on his face and demonstrated his game-breaking abilities.
📸 Credit to Ben Stansall for AFP via Getty Images for this one.
Much will be discussed about Phil Foden’s potential to be England’s false nine — the Manchester City man certainly pleased Tuchel with that performance. Here is what the England manager told ITV.
💬 “Not everything is easy, not every win is 2-0, 3-0, 5-0. We kept a clean sheet and were decisive in the end.
“We had good attack from the bench straight away. The game became more stretched after we did the subs around 60 minutes. It got a bit too open, I need to check why.
“We brought on quality players. You see straight away that (Foden) is in a good mood and good confidence. The first touches were well tempered, the pass was good for the assist, he moved freely.”
In the 65th minute, a little before the halfway point of the second half, England served notice of the riches of their attacking talent.
In one swoop, on came Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Eberechi Eze, three of the most gifted attacking midfielders on the continent.
To be able to bring those kinds of players on to potentially unlock matches next summer is an enviable position to be in for Thomas Tuchel.
That point was underlined by Eze's stunning late goal, assisted by Foden.
Back in the team with an impactful performance and an assist from the bench in a false-nine role, Phil Foden could hardly wipe the smile off his face after the match when speaking to ITV — here’s what he had to say.
💬 “Amazing to be back. So happy to be back in the squad. I’m enjoying it. I thought I did well. I created some chances and overall I had to be happy with the impact I had today. Wherever the manager puts me, I can play multiple positions.
“It was a false nine thing I enjoyed it. I was happy to come on in that role, the game opened up a bit which helped me. It was a great team performance.
“There are quality players all over the pitch. The pressure is on to perform well with my club but the smile is back.”
And here’s what we thought of the Serbian players’ performances at Wembley.
Here’s how the England players rated today.
And the other goalscorer, Eberechi Eze, also spoke to ITV at full time.
💬 “Again, another good performance — important to get the win. Of course I'm happy to score and to help the team which is important as well.”
The Arsenal midfielder was then asked about the competition in the attacking position, in the middle and out wide.
“There is a lot of talent in the team. You can see the types of players that are here and the players that aren't here as well. It's the type of competition you want to be up against. You want to be in and around it and it's going to help the team, for sure.”
Another good performance in an England shirt for Bukayo Saka — his appraisal was short and sweet in his full-time interview with ITV.
💬 “It's a performance we can be proud of. We got the win in the end and we played well.”
And he didn't elaborate too much on his opening goal, either…
“It was a nice strike — I was happy it went in.”
