England vs Latvia LIVE: Thomas Tuchel set to make group adjustments for World Cup qualifier
Thomas Tuchel kicked off his tenure as England manager with a professional if slightly dull 2-0 victory over Albania at Wembley on Friday night.
Myles Lewis-Skelly scored his first international goal on his senior debut while Harry Kane extended his record tally to 70 goals for the national team.
Despite the win, England’s performance was very reminiscent of the Gareth Southgate era with controlled possession, slow build-up and a lack of runners in the wide areas. Marcus Rashford and Phil Foden took on the latter roles and Tuchel has explained ‘what more he wants’ as he seeks to bring Premier League intensity to the international game.
Anthony Gordon has withdrawn from the squad after picking up a hip injury against Albania and there may be changes to the starting XI with the likes of Jordan Henderson and Marc Guehi brought into the team.
Follow all the updates and action with our live blog below as England face Latvia at Wembley:
Gordon withdraws from England squad
In a statement released on Sunday, England confirmed: “Anthony Gordon has withdrawn from Three Lions camp having sustained an injury during Friday night’s 2-0 win over Albania. The forward has returned to Newcastle United for further assessment.”
England’s unbeaten streak
England are unbeaten in their last 38 qualifying matches for major tournaments at home with 34 wins and four draws across Euro and World Cup qualifiers.
That’s twice as long as their next best run without defeat (two 19 game runs in April 1983 and October 1996).
Five in a row?
England have won their last four competitive matches, they last won five in a row in June 2021.
Can they make it five from five?
Thomas Tuchel explains tactical dilemmas that will define his England tenure
There was a mere three days the squad had together before the match and only a few occasions Albania were willing to come out of their area, let alone their half.
Tuchel on Rashford and Foden
“We believe fully in both wingers, in the potentials,” Thomas Tuchel told talkSPORT. “That’s why we called them up.
“I fully understand that not everyone can play all the time on the very highest level and impact matches in the way we wanted.
“For Phil, it’s a difficult season in the club. He comes from several weeks where he does not find the rhythm that he found last season, things are not so easy for him, so we called him up to show him our support and our love and our commitment.
“Marcus is the opposite. He found his found his rhythm and since January, in a new club, new environment was very impressive and that has not changed because of 60 or 70 minutes that were difficult against Albania. Not at all.”
Can England back up Albania win?
England defeated Albania in their first 2026 World Cup qualifier last Friday.
Myles Lewis-Skelly and Harry Kane got the goals but can the Three Lions back up that win with another victory at Wembley tonight?
Can Latvia beat England?
Latvia have lost their last 13 international matches against sides who started that match within the top 10 of the Fifa Rankings by an aggregate score of 38-1.
Their sole win against such opposition came against Turkiye – ranked 8th – in November 2003 in a European Championship qualifier.
Kane on Tuchel’s impact
Thomas Tuchel promises to be a different manager than Gareth Southgate with his honest nature and assessment of players, regardless of how poorly they perform.
“He’s very straight-talking, he knows what he wants and knows what he wants from his team,” Harry Kane added.
“It doesn’t matter who you are or how many games you played, he’ll tell you the same as he will tell one of the young players and that’s a good standard to set.
“I think what he’s saying is the next step is to go into detail and have uncomfortable conversations with each other on the pitch and off the pitch when things aren’t quite going your way.
“Not just be a friend to your team-mates but dig your teammate out and push them on in a different way. I think it’s that next step.”
Kane on ‘amazing journey’ under Tuchel
Thomas Tuchel’s reign began with a win in the World Cup qualifier against Albania on Friday and Harry Kane hopes it is the start of an “amazing journey” to glory.
“I think for sure that is a dream, when you’re thinking about things that you would love to do, winning the World Cup is right up there at the top of the list,” he said.
“We have to qualify first, which is the most important thing. But I think to lift a trophy with England is in the back of my mind anyway, and it would be a dream to be able to achieve that.
“It hurts when we’ve been so close, and we’ve been moments away from doing that, but that then just gives you more motivation to go that one step further.
“The World Cup is the biggest of them all and we have an opportunity with this group to do that but there will be a lot of hard work.
“You can see (Tuchel’s) extremely proud to be here and excited to be here. And I think that’s exciting for the players as well, because we’re in this together.
“We have a big journey ahead, but what can be an amazing journey as well.”
Thomas Tuchel wanted ‘more impact’ from Phil Foden and Marcus Rashford: ‘It was missing’
Tuchel explained that he wanted more “dribbling” and “aggressive runs” and said elements of Foden and Rashford’s performances were “missing” in the 2-0 win over Albania at Wembley.
