England vs Albania LIVE: Thomas Tuchel takes cost of first sport and Morgan Rogers may begin
England take on Albania at Wembley in Thomas Tuchel’s first game in charge. The German coach has been appointed on an 18-month contract through to the 2026 World Cup and England begin that journey as their qualifying campaign gets underway.
Tuchel has wasted no time explaining where England fell short under Gareth Southgate, saying that he felt the team were “afraid” during last summer’s Euro 2024 final defeat to Spain. “I want us to play with excitement and the hunger and desire to win,” Tuchel said. “And the acceptance of failure is part of it, especially in football.”
Tuchel arrives with an impressive CV, that includes winning the Champions League with Chelsea, and made a number of eye-catching calls when naming his first squad, including a recall for former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson.
Now all eyes are on Tuchel’s first England line-up as the Three Lions look to hit the ground running in their World Cup qualifying group that includes Serbia, Latvia, Andorra and tonight’s opponents Albania.
Follow live updates from Wembley ahead of Tuchel’s first game in charge, below:
Miguel Delaney answers your questions on Thomas Tuchel’s England
Thomas Tuchel’s England era is officially underway. Friday’s World Cup qualifier against Albania will give us the first real glimpse of how the new manager wants his team to play. But what do you want to see from his debut match in charge?
Last meeting with Albania
12 November 2021, World Cup Qualifier – England 5-0 Albania
England skipper Harry Kane took home the match ball the last time the Three Lions faced off against Albania on home turf at Wembley Stadium.
The hosts took a step closer to the 2022 World Cup.
Kane bagged a first-half hat-trick while Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson also made the scoresheet.
Dan Burn in contention to start for England
It looks as if Dan Burn could be making his England debut tonight against Albania. What a week it would be for the 32-year-old if that is the case.
Thursday 13 March: Receives first England call-up
Sunday 16 March: Scores at Wembley as Newcastle win first domestic trophy in 70 years
Friday 21 March: Makes England debut at Wembley at age of 32
Do Albania have a chance of winning?
The statistics do not make pretty reading for the visitors.
England have won all six previous encounters and only have a better 100 per cent record against Malta, San Marino and Luxembourg.
Albania have only managed to score just once in those meetings and have never won a competitive match against a nation in the top 10 of the world rankings.
However, Tuchel says “there is no such thing as easy matches anymore” and is prepared for the side 65th in the world to make life tough on Friday.
Albania, coached by former Arsenal and Brazil left-back Sylvinho, played at last summer’s Euros.
Kane on being ‘taken for granted’
“It’s like when Ronaldo and Messi were throwing these crazy numbers out there and the next season they’d score 40 goals instead of 50 and it was like they were having a bad season,” said the England captain at the press conference ahead of Friday’s World Cup qualifier with Albania.
“People take it for granted and maybe a little bit with England as well. I’ve scored 69 goals and when you score against Albania or Latvia, or these teams, people just expect it so it’s not spoken about so much.
“Say if I was 25 now and doing what I’m doing, the excitement around me would maybe be a little bit different to what it is now. Again, that’s part of where we are with football and I’ve seen it with some other players as they get into their 30s.
“Maybe people just get a little bit bored of what you do, but I’m certainly not bored. I’m excited for these games and the games ahead.”
Kane emulating Lewandowski and Ronaldo
Since Harry Kane made his first appearance in a World Cup qualifier in September 2016, only Robert Lewandowski (25) and Cristiano Ronaldo (21) have netted more qualifying goals among European players than Kane (17 in 14 games).
The Bayern forward has also been involved in six goals in two games against Albania (four goals, two assists).
Dan Burn to start?
The best week of Dan Burn’s life could be about to get even better if he gets the nod at left-back.
Friday’s match will see a glorious return to Wembley, five days after he scored for Newcastle in their Carabao Cup final win over Liverpool.
At 32, he thought his chance had gone, but he could be set for his England debut.
Teenager Myles Lewis-Skelly is at the other end of his career, having made a big impression for Arsenal this season, and he looks to be the other main contender to play left-back.
Tino Livramento and Levi Colwill can also play there.
Harry Kane believes growing ‘aura’ could lead to Ballon d’Or: ‘I feel more respected’
The striker credited new England manager Thomas Tuchel for persuading him to join the club, as he now gets closer to the first domestic title of his career in the Bundesliga, while also having a real chance in the Champions League.
Harry Kane believes fans are ‘bored’ by his goals: ‘If I was 25 it would be different’
Harry Kane believes that fans are bored of his goalscoring prowess after years of consistency and feels like his ability in front of goal is being ‘taken for granted’.
Since making the move to Bayern Munich he has scored 76 time in 82 appearances for the German giants while the 31-year-old is the current leading goalscorer for England with 69 goals.
He has previously revealed his aim of scoring 100 goals for the Three Lions and will be targeting a strong qualifying campaign for the 2026 World Cup which begins tonight.
How will Harry Kane fare?
Harry Kane will have been happier than most that Tuchel was the man chosen to replace Southgate, given 18 months earlier the German spent over £86m to take him to Bayern Munich from Tottenham.
Tuchel built his team around Kane at Bayern and looks set to do so again, already confirming that the striker will be his captain.
Despite his incredible scoring record, there have been increasing questions over Kane’s place in the national team over the last 12 months, with interim boss Lee Carsley even dropping him for a crunch Nations League clash in Greece.
However, his goalscoring form for Bayern this season, where he has bagged 32 goals in 37 games, means he remains one of Europe’s best strikers.
