England vs Albania LIVE: Thomas Tuchel takes cost of first sport and Morgan Rogers might 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:
‘The road to 2026 starts here’
Wembley is preparing for the historic occasion of Thomas Tuchel’s first game in charge.
The German is on the front of the match programme and his face is also on the big screens, with less than two hours until kick-off.
A good omen for England?
A random fact but one that will please England fans.
The Three Lions have won 16 of their last 17 internationals against nations whose name begins with A (one draw), keeping 15 clean sheets.
The last ‘A’ nation to beat England was Australia at Upton Park back in February 2003, while in a competitive match it was Argentina at the 1986 World Cup.
A reminder of the England team news
Thomas Tuchel has no time to waste when it comes to shaping his plans for the 2026 World Cup: he has already confirmed that Harry Kane will be his captain and England’s record scorer will start alongside Jude Bellingham, with Declan Rice and Jordan Pickford also close to automatic picks.
Tuchel will have to decide whether to use Bellingham at No 10 or alongside Declan Rice, with Curtis Jones or Jordan Henderson options to play in a double-pivot and Morgan Rogers under consideration to play further further forward. Tuchel has described former Liverpool captain Henderson as the “glue” in his squad.
On the wings, Anthony Gordon and Marcus Rashford will compete for the spot on the left while injuries to Bukayo Saka and Cole Palmer should see Phil Foden play off the right, although Jarrod Bowen is an option.
Tuchel has played with both a back three and back four in his managerial career, but will use a 4-2-3-1 formation in his first game with England. There could well be a debutant at left back with Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly and Newcastle’s Carabao Cup final hero Dan Burn could also make his first England appearance at centre-back.
Morgan Gibbs-White, Aaron Ramsdale and Jarell Quansah have reportedly been left out from the matchday squad.
When is England vs Albania?
The match will kick-off at 7:45pm GMT on Friday 21 March at Wembley Stadium.
England vs Albania will be shown live on ITV 1 and ITV X, with coverage getting underway from 7pm.
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).
