Win-now, is the approach of the new England manager Thomas Tuchel – although the problem as ever with England is that winning now looks very different to winning then, in the heat and the tumult of a hot summer World Cup finals.
It was proclaimed at Wembley as the start of the road to the 2026 World Cup finals under the German coach, and certainly if that is not the destination then what a calamity. There was a new drum and bass track commissioned by the Football Association in Tuchel’s honour – at least one thing he can say he has over Sir Alf Ramsey. Then there was an opponent adopting the archetypal defensive position which England were obliged to break down. Having scored after just 20 minutes, a joyful moment for the teenage debutant Myles Lewis-Skelly, they chugged slowly to the late second almost an hour later from Harry Kane.
There was something fitting about a goal from a teenager who became the youngest Englishman to score on his debut for the national team, to the 70th of Kane’s towering record-breaking England career. What came between will tell Tuchel that there is no easy route to glory. He has many players who belong among the top 200 in Europe but there is no obvious way for this team to play. A conventional hectic English Saturday-afternoon style? A Spanish possession facsimile? A gegenpressing overdrive? There was little to distinguish from the eight years of Gareth Southgate. Under him there were many evenings at Wembley like this when England played against an opponent who barely emerged from their own half.
The team was a curiosity with the out-of-favour Marcus Rashford recalled and the out-of-form Phil Foden also selected. Neither made much impact and were replaced by Anthony Gordon and Jarrod Bowen. Kyle Walker, on his return to England, looked tidy although he was never put under the kind of pressure he has had to withstand from a high-quality winger in the past. There was no Marc Guehi in a back four that featured Ezri Konsa and Dan Burn, also making his debut. Both good defenders, but as John Stones’ career ebbs, do England have a ball-playing centre-back who can pick that crucial pass into midfield?
It was a splendid evening for Lewis-Skelly, at 18 years and 176 days, the third youngest goalscorer in England’s history after Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen. English football academies in the last decade have been good at shaping these prodigies, capable of such a high level of sophistication at such a young age. What Tuchel has to do now is find a style and an identity. Not easy to do in a qualifying group that England are expected to sail through on their way to the World Cup finals of 2026. Serbia, the highest-ranked team in the group after England, will surely be better. Monday’s opponents Latvia only just squeezed past Andorra on the same evening.
Full report to follow
10:04 PM GMT
Thomas Tuchel speaks to ITV
We can do better. We have to do better. I think we started quite well, seven or eight minutes of one hundred per cent ball possession with a lot of passes and high energy. The opponent is hard to break down because they defended in a deep, deep block. All the matches that we saw in the Euros they managed not to concede chances, not concede goals.
In the second half we were too slow, in general not enough runs off the ball to get behind the lines.
He’s an amazing player and personality. Myles came into camp and showed straight away why it’s so normal to fall in love with him. He’s a great player and [his goal] was well deserved.
No doubt [Jude] is a key player for us. It was a fantastic pass for the goal.we expect great things from Jude. He’s ready to take this responsibility and we gave to create the environment and structure where we can see more of it.
We hope for more impact from these positions [Rashford and Foden] and we tried with Anthony and Jarrod. I hoped for more dribbling and less passes, more aggressive runs into the box. I think all our chances came from little diagonal runs. There was a bit missing. They were not as decisive as they could be.
09:54 PM GMT
A word from Jude Bellingham via ITV
[How was it?] It was pretty good,. We had clear ideas of what we wanted to do and how we wanted to play. It’s difficult against a team that sits so low, plays so compact. We stuck to the plan pretty well.
[The first goal] It was a really good run so I just managed to find the path of the run and he took it so well.
[What do you need to improve?] Keeping the rhythm and the tempo in the second half, be more clinical. I had a couple where the keeper made great saves.
09:47 PM GMT
Myles Lewis-Skelly talks to ITV
I’m lost for words. I’m so grateful that the manager put trust in me and the players too. Great pass from Jude. All I had to do was put it in the back of the net.
The fans made me feel at home. Thanks to them. [You’re England’s third youngest goalscorer behind Rooney and Owen]. That’s incredible! Amazing!
09:44 PM GMT
England vs Albania player ratings
Read Mike McGrath’s verdict: Lewis-Skelly imperious on international debut
09:41 PM GMT
Anthony Gordon goes down again
Sorry for premature optimistic diagnosis. He’s lying face down holding his head. Lee Dixon thinks he has jarred his hip.
09:40 PM GMT
Full time: England 2 Albania 0
Competent start against sparky opponents who are well coached and organised. Two good goals and a clean sheet. He’ll be fine with that.
09:38 PM GMT
90+2 min: England 2 Albania 0
Anthony Gordon receives a crack on the ankle but he gets back up and seems to be OK.
09:35 PM GMT
90 min: England 2 Albania 0
Five minutes of stoppage time are signalled, largely for Strakosha’s injury.
09:35 PM GMT
89 min: England 2 Albania 0
England free-kick when Ramadani trips Konsa as he tried to run through the lines. It’s 40 yards out.
Last Eng;and change:
Lewis-Skelly → James.
09:33 PM GMT
87 min: England 2 Albania 0
England are passing it around quite comfortably. Albania seem happy to leave it at 2-0.
09:30 PM GMT
85 min: England 2 Albania 0
Wembley is emptying out very early. Those who have stuck around gave Jordan Henderson a little cheer as he came on. Henderson had been booed at Wembley previously after moving to Saudi Arabia. Now he’s at Ajax, it seems all is forgiven.
09:29 PM GMT
83 min: England 2 Albania 0
That long delay to replace the Albania goalkeeper has rather killed the momentum. Plenty took it as a cue to leave and from a crowd of 82,000, there are now loads of empty seats.
09:27 PM GMT
80 min: England 2 Albania 0
Strakosha can’t continue but there is a long delay for the sub keeper to tie his boots and find his gloves.
Kastrati → Strakosha
And for England:
Henderson → Rice.
09:21 PM GMT
GOAL!
England 2 Albania 0 (Kane) Rice crosses from the right to Kane who traps it with a deft touch but the ball bounces back up and then seems to get stuck between his legs but no problem as he waits for it to sit down again, spins and feeds his shot unstoppably into the bottom right corner.
That’s a great finish by Harry Kane. Made by his first touch but most players would have snatched at it. Instead he knew he had time, took his time and used the defender to shield his shot. Super play from the England captain and just what was needed after a flat second-half. That is 70 goals now in 104 appearances.
09:20 PM GMT
74 min: England 1 Albania 0
Strakosha flaps at a cross as he comes way out to punch and sends it back towards his own goal. England corner.
Triple change:
Rogers → Jones
Bowen → Foden
Gordon → Rashford.
Strakosha is down and being treated by the physio.
09:17 PM GMT
72 min: England 1 Albania 0
Broja beats Burn in the air to flick the ball on to Asani storming through the middle but Konsa had dropped off and smoothly snuffs out the danger. Broja is giving Burn a torrid time.
09:15 PM GMT
70 min: England 1 Albania 0
Strakosha drops Lewis-Skelly’s deep cross under pressure from Bellingham but fortunately for him the ball bounces infield and Bellingham was on his far side. He scrambles it away.
09:14 PM GMT
69 min: England 1 Albania 0
Broja beats Burn again, rolling Goliath, and drives down the right of centre but then fails to pick out the support runs of Laci and Uzuni and puts it too close to Walker who gobbles it up.
09:12 PM GMT
67 min: England 1 Albania 0
Broja has the beating of Burn on a rare Albania attack. He hares down the right and runs up the byline with Burn close enough to hound and harry so much in his recovery run that Broja runs out of room and Pickford pounces to gather.
09:10 PM GMT
65 min: England 1 Albania 0
Lewis-Skelly seizes the initiative to drive infield and run up the inside-left channel, jinking away from his pursuer to force a pass into the box for Bellingham who can’t get it out from under his feet.
09:09 PM GMT
63 min: England 1 Albania 0
Rashford runs at Balliu. He glides in as he does at his best but the full-back manages to block the cross and knock it out for a throw.
First change:
Broja → Bajrami.
It has all gone a bit flat for England. So it is no surprise that Thomas Tuchel has sent out some attacking players to warm-up - Morgan Rogers, Jarrod Bowen, Anthony Gordon and Eberechi Eze along with Reece James. An hour gone and it looks like he needs to make some changes here and is in discussion with his assistant, Anthony Barry.
09:07 PM GMT
61 min: England 1 Albania 0
Now Jones makes a good run into the box and fails by a matter of inches to squeeze a pass across to Kane. A minute later Jones makes the deepest run of England’s forwards again, collects a chip and tries to volley it across to Foden who claims he was pushed when he couldn’t get there. The ref waves play on.
09:05 PM GMT
59 min: England 1 Albania 0
Rashford races down the left into the box, chops on to his right and Ajeti just manages to poke it off his instep as he shaped to shoot a la Henry. Bellingham picks up the scraps and whips a cross through the six-yard box and Kane peels off Aliji to crane his neck in front and flash a header just wide of the right post.
Tuchel’s been getting quite angry about some of the officiating. He thought Rashford had been pushed over by Ramadani and then got annoyed when a foul was given against the on-loan Villa man. He ranted at the fourth official on both occasions before retreating back to the bench.
09:01 PM GMT
57 min: England 1 Albania 0
England have sent Rogers, Bowen and Gordon to warm up.
09:00 PM GMT
55 min: England 1 Albania 0
The infernal Great Escape now from the band. They’re winning. Unless it specifically refers to escaping the press and low block.
08:59 PM GMT
52 min: England 1 Albania 0
Longish spell of England possession as they try to pick a pass but have to look after the ball and head back to Pickford a couple of times instead as Albania shut up shop.
08:56 PM GMT
50 min: England 1 Albania 0
England free-kick 40 yards out from goal after a foul on Lewis-Skelly. Foden swings it in looking for Konsa but Albania win the header and break with Bajrami but Konsa races back to mop up.
08:55 PM GMT
48 min: England 1 Albania 0
Asani is kicked in the kisser as he stooped for a header on the right wing. Free-kick parallel with the 18 yard line and Burn twice makes decisive blocks, first with his head and then with his left foot. England break and Walker’s tenacity leaves Asllani on the floor and though there wasn’t a foul the ref stops play as the Inter midfielder writhes in pain.
There’s nowt wrong with him but England have to restart with an uncontested drop-ball.
08:51 PM GMT
46 min: England 1 Albania 0
The trumpeter reprises the national anthem at the start of the second half. The posh seats right opposite the camera are sparsely populated as usual immediately after the break. What are they drinking that keeps them there so long every game? Laudanum?
08:48 PM GMT
How about this for a stat?
437 - England completed 437 passes in the first half against Albania, their most in the first half of any match on Opta's records in any competition. Implementation. pic.twitter.com/cI1WMYSmZW
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 21, 2025
08:45 PM GMT
England’s youngest scoring debutant
On the pitch, Myles Lewis-Skelly has made history becoming the youngest player in history to score on his senior England debut.
Off the pitch, his mother Marcia Lewis and Kate Iorpenda are protecting youngsters from football’s pitfalls with their community platform No1Fan.club.
Click here for more on how they are providing support and education for parents of children in the male and female academy systems.
08:34 PM GMT
Half-time: England 1 Albania 0
Good signs against a team set up to play only on the break. England have worked hard and with real purpose to break down the low block and should reap better dividends as Albania tire. Especially if they can up the tempo and maintain it.
08:33 PM GMT
44 min: England 1 Albania 0
Asani blazes over from 25 yards as Jones slid in. Asani wants a free-kick or possibly a corner but he’s getting neither.
08:32 PM GMT
42 min: England 1 Albania 0
Three Rice corners all to Burn. The first is blocked at the back post and England switch to take the next from the right. Burn again towers above everyone and thumps a back-post header on to the bar. It hits Strakosha’s hand on the way backa nd Albania scramble it behind.
Rice bends it deep again and this time it’s more floaty and gives Albania the chance to boot it clear having stalled Burn’s run and hence his momentum.
Interesting corner routine by England. Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham basically protected Dan Burn to get around to the back unchallenged. It was so close to working a treat, as he hit the crossbar.
08:29 PM GMT
40 min: England 1 Albania 0
Walker makes a deep run to the touchline and hooks over a cross on the half-volley. Bellingham peels off Ajeti to dive forward and head it towards the bottom left. Strakosha saves with his shin and Kane follows up to shoot but his goalbound shot from 10 yards is blocked bravely by Djimshiti and out for a corner.
If ever there was any doubt - and there really should not be - but the opening half hour has confirmed that whatever Thomas Tuchel intends to do with England there is one clear message: build it around Jude Bellingham. The Real Madrid midfielder has been outstanding so far, especially in possession and is the most dangerous player on the pitch.
08:26 PM GMT
38 min: England 1 Albania 0
Asani intercepts Rashford’s pass that was intended for Bellingham but England easily see off the solo counter-attack. There wasn’t much movement ahead of him.
08:25 PM GMT
36 min: England 1 Albania 0
The rain starts to fall at Wembley as the band strikes up Please don’t take me home.
Lewis-Skelly, aged 18 years and 176 days, is the youngest-ever player to score on his England senior debut - overtaking his new international team-mate Marcus Rashford, who was 18 years and 209 days old when he netted against Australia in May 2016.
We just had our first paper plane touch down on the Wembley pitch to a big cheer. I wonder what Tuchel will make of that England ‘tradition’?
08:23 PM GMT
34 min: England 1 Albania 0
The best side of Rashford sprays a fine pass into the box from the left for Bellingham. The Real Madrid forward tries to surprise the keeper with a snap toe-poke through his legs from five yards but he shuts them in time and England commit a foul trying to latch on to the rebound.
There does seem to be a bit more of a natural balance to this England team with left-footers at left centre-back, in Dan Burn, and at left-back with Myles Lewis-Skelly unlike at the European Championship. Early days but it does look a little more of a fit. For all the concern that Thomas Tuchel might have selected older players it is encouraging that Lewis-Skelly, at 18, has been given his debut and he has, of course, marked it with a goal.
08:21 PM GMT
32 min: England 1 Albania 0
England have had 83 per cent of the possession so far. Five minutes ago it was 91 per cent so you can see how Albania’s two attacks have affected that.
08:19 PM GMT
30 min: England 1 Albania 0
The goal video is now alongside the description if you wish to see it.
Rashford seemingly bottles a challenge which allows Ajeti to go galloping forward up the right but his team-mates bail him out.
08:17 PM GMT
27 min: England 1 Albania 0
Jones comes through the back of Ramadani and concedes a free-kick which they take quickly and break. They pile forward with Asani and Uzuni to the fore and Burn has to take matters in his own hands and head the ball over after Pickford has one go at knocking Laci’s cross behind but seems to lose his bearings.
Burn then wins a vital header from the corner and throws himself in front of Ajeti’s shot.
08:15 PM GMT
24 min: England 1 Albania 0
Kane drops deep to thwart an Albania counter-attack and then drags his side upfield. It starts a move which ends with a deep cross from the right looking for Rashford who is betrayed by a shonky first touch.
08:11 PM GMT
22 min: England 1 Albania 0
Rashford is penalised for treading on Balliu’s heel. The replay of Bellingham’s pass shows his class. I’ll post a clip as soon as possible.
Tuchel signalled Jordan Pickford over to talk to him straight after Lewis-Skelly scored. He also passed on some instructions to Jude Bellingham as he came over for a drink.
08:06 PM GMT
GOAL!
England 1 Albania 0 (Lewis-Skelly) Superb pass from Bellingham threading it down the inside-left channel and the left-back had made a similarly superb run, initially blindsiding Asani to steal into the box and then leaning into him to hold him off before rolling it confidently through Strakosha’s legs. A debut cap and a debut goal.
08:06 PM GMT
16 min: England 0 Albania 0
Couple of promising moves for England, both instigated by Rashford. The first one is a result of his 60-yard crossfield pass to Foden who arrows in a cross that flies between Kane and Djimsiti. Then Rashford’s tenacity allows him to retrieve the ball after his pass to Bellingham was picked off. He wins the tackle and then works it through to Kane running into the box from the left of the D but he can’t get there before Strakosha races out to smother it.
08:03 PM GMT
13 min: England 0 Albania 0
Kane drops into midfield to take a pass, turn and chip a diagonal to the left of the box, looking for Rashford’s clever run but the ball doesn’t run for him to get a shot off. Then Jones counter-presses Asllani, wins the ball and gets to the byline with some trickery with his dazzling feet. Kane stops his run to offer an option for the cut-back and Jones tries to feed the pass into him but the angle is too acute.
08:00 PM GMT
11 min: England 0 Albania 0
Good work from Lewis-Skelly snuffs out a ball driven up his wing for Asani. Konsa chips a long diagonal into the box that Ajeti heads away and Albania try to break but Walker is too quick and alert for them.
This low block is giving England problems picking the lock.
07:56 PM GMT
9 min: England 0 Albania 0
The atmosphere is typically quiet until a few groans greet a misplaced pass from Jones between Walker and Foden. To be fair to the Liverpool midfielder Walker make a late dart away from the ball after it had been played.
07:55 PM GMT
7 min: England 0 Albania 0
Walker goes down when pressed by three players, Aliji. Asilani and Bajrami. The ref waves play on. England begin to build from the back again after Albania give the ball away cheaply.
Jude Bellingham has started very high up the pitch, almost partnering Harry Kane rather than playing as a number, as expected. It looks more like a 4-2-4 formation in possession. Another early observation – Marcus Rashford is being used on the left, rather than the right, of the attack. Apparently he has been very impressive out there in training which has led to Thomas Tuchel selecting him from the start.
07:53 PM GMT
5 min: England 0 Albania 0
England keep probing, keep passing, retaining possession, but cannot penetrate the last third as yet. Tuchel is already on his feet and bellowing instructions. It seems with his pointing that he wants more movement up front and England do knock it forward and almost pick out Bellingham’s run to the left of the penalty spot from Foden’s cross but it’s behind him and he can’t retrieve it.
07:50 PM GMT
3 min: England 0 Albania 0
Lewis-Skelly and Walker are pushed high with Jones and Rice dropping deep to take the ball off the two centre-halves. Foden is hugging the right touchline and Albania fans boo as England play keepball for 90 seconds, sweeping the ball around.
07:48 PM GMT
1 min: England 0 Albania 0
Albania kick off, attacking from right to left and they pump it up the left, lose the ball and foul Kyle Walker while trying to win it back. Pickford takes the free-kick and lumps it 70 yards. Albania hustle it out for a throw-in.
07:46 PM GMT
Turn it in
The less said about the FA-commissioned ‘Thomas Tuchel’s Army’ drum-and- bass-style track the better. It’s hard to put into words the embarrassment one feels on behalf of whoever commissioned it. The desperate pursuit of the approval of some nebulous young demographic by people who should know better. Just play the classics and stop imposing this on football fans. They certainly never asked for it.
07:45 PM GMT
Behind the banner
That ‘Welcome to the Home of Football Thomas’ banner is right in front of the hardcore England fans. I wonder if that is anything to do with trying to prevent the Ten German Bombers song rearing its head…
07:43 PM GMT
No need for national anthem watch today
The Albanian fans are belting their out with gusto but we don’t require the thought police watching Thomas Tuchel tonight because he has already said he will have to earn the right to sing it...
07:41 PM GMT
The teams are coming out of the tunnel
England are in all white, save for Jordan Pickford in primrose. Albania are in red and black, their supporters greeting them with the Poznan, many with shirts off. There’s a pall of smoke from the flamethrowers and fireworks.
07:38 PM GMT
Tune!
There’s some suggestion that there is going to be a specially commissioned pre-match song for Thomas Tuchel tonight. My colleague Mike McGrath has described it as being “a mash up”.
There’s fireworks going off and ‘Thomas Tuchel’s army’ seems to be playing over the loud speakers. I think this is the mash up, in Mike’s words. He’s now saying it’s got a drum and bass ‘vibe’. I feel like Mike should be writing this blog. It’s not for me.
07:33 PM GMT
Here’s the captain
07:22 PM GMT
ITV interviews Thomas Tuchel
Winning the World Cup is the big target. I like the clarity. The federation is there, the players are there, it’s not far off. We want to inject the kind of ruthlessness in club football [being sacked by PSG, Chelsea and Bayern Munich despite his record] to the federation. It brings that edge.
England were more afraid to drop out of Euro 2024 rather than having the excitement and hunger to win it.
We are not Spain, we are not Argentina. We have grit. We must be direct and be ourselves. We have maybe 22 days of training before the World Cup. We will worship every day to create this special bond and we are then ready to fly. Here we go.
07:11 PM GMT
A brief word from Kyle Walker
It’s been good. Exciting. It’s a new era of English football. I fully enjoyed it under Gareth Southgate, I’ve got many great memories. We turn the page and start again. He wants a high intensity game of football, energy and being smart as well. We don’t want it to be 6-6. We want to win well.
07:02 PM GMT
Mark Pougatch begins ITV coverage
With a montage of past England managers and their journeys from heroes to zeros. Grainy footage of Sir Alf shows that even the greatest careers end in failure.
Roy Keane and Ian Wright are the main pundits.
06:55 PM GMT
The Berti Vogts playbook
Major advertising blitz from Mini on Wembley Stadium’s Olympic Way playing the Thomas Tuchel card hard. Another famous British brand that is in German hands – in this case BMW.
06:46 PM GMT
Walking around like they own the place ...
06:41 PM GMT
Your teams in black and white
England Pickford; Walker, Konsa, Burn, Lewis-Skelly; Rice Jones; Foden, Bellingham, Rashford; Kane.
Substitutes D Henderson,Trafford, James, Guehi, J Henderson, Colwill, Eze, Rogers, Gordon, Solanke, Bowen, Livramento.
Albania Strakosha; Balliu, Ajeti, Djimsiti, Aliji; Ramadani, Asllani; Asani, Laci, Nedim Bajrami; Uzuni.
Substitutes Kastrati,Sherri, Shehu, Manaj, Mihaj, Kumbulla, Medon Berisha, Muci,Ismajli, Pajaziti, Hoxha, Broja.
Referee Alejandro Hernández (Spain)
06:34 PM GMT
Albania starting XI
????ALBANIENS AUFSTELLUNG????
Strakosha
Balliu - Gjimshiti - Ajeti - Aliji
Asllani - Ramadani
Asani - Laçi - Bajrami
UzuniEure Meinung?
— AlbFussballDE (@AlbFussballDE) March 21, 2025
06:29 PM GMT
Debuts for Burn and Lewis-Skelly
06:28 PM GMT
Team news latest
Kyle Walker is expected to edge closer to winning his 100th England cap by starting in Thomas Tuchel’s first match in charge against Albania on Friday night.
Marcus Rashford is also said to have impressed Tuchel this week, with the on-loan Aston Villa forward aiming to play for his country for the first time in a year, having last appeared for England against Brazil on March 23, 2024.
Tuchel delayed telling his squad the team for his first match in charge, but Walker is understood to be in line to start at right-back and win his 94th cap for his country.
05:08 PM GMT
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05:08 PM GMT
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05:04 PM GMT
Preview: Debuts and the dawning of a new era
Good evening and welcome to live coverage of the Uefa Group K 2026 World cup qualifier between England and Albania from Wembley. It is, of course, also Thomas Tuchel’s debut as England head coach, the man on the shortest ever full-time contract for that role and, like Gareth Southgate, Sam Allardyce, Kevin Keegan, Glenn Hoddle, Bobby Robson and Don Revie before him he will start with a competitive fixture rather than dipping his toe in with a friendly.
Every England manager/head coach – and I’m excluding the caretakers Joe Mercer, Howard Wilkinson, Peter Taylor, Stuart Pearce and Lee Carsley – has won his opening game since Robson’s 2-2 draw in Copenhagen in 1982 and you have to go as far back as Sir Alf Ramsey’s 5-2 defeat by France in 1963 for one who began on the wrong foot. But debuts can be deceptive. Most are dull affairs but those that seemed to promise a sea change – the 4-0 thrashing of Greece under Steve McClaren and Revie’s 3-0 victory over Czechoslovakia – were false dawns. The opening games which were harbingers of coherence and style – the Hoddle side’s win in Moldova, Sven-Goran Eriksson’s 3-0 defeat of Spain and Terry Venables and his Christmas tree securing a 1-0 victory over Denmark – are the exception not the rule.
In Tuchel’s favour tonight are the calibre of the opposition and that he is being refreshingly true to himself. He has always esteemed experience, viz Thiago Silva at PSG and Chelsea, Gonzalo Castro at Dortmund, Thomas Müller at Bayern, and while Jordan Henderson’s return from the wilderness was a shock, Kyle Walker, also 34, is exactly the kind of player he treasures, regardless of form. Sometimes his recruitment of players with plenty of games in their legs – Kalidou Koulibaly, Raheem Sterling, Eric Dier, Gigi Buffon – has not been successful on the pitch but he values their influence. But a word of warning, the Cocoon act can only go so far. The United States in high summer is no country for old men, the White House apart for the past nine years. Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey even less so. A kind draw in terms of venues may make it possible to take a couple of veterans but old lags do not tend to add stars to the jersey… unless their name is Lionel Messi.
Albania, after performing honourably at Euro 2024, drawing with Croatia and losing by only one goal to Italy and ultimate winners Spain in the toughest group, were poor in the Nations League. Defeats by Georgia, Ukraine and Czechia have dented their hopes that they could bag first or second place from England, Serbia, Latvia or Andorra to qualify for their first World Cup. They have a few familiar faces, not least in the dugout, where the former Arsenal left-back Sylvinho calls the shots and is assisted by former City and West Ham folk hero Pablo Zabaleta and Middlesbrough midfielder Doriva. There’s a familar face for Tuchel in the squad too, his former Chelsea striker Armando Broja, a forward he brought into the first-team squad in the summer of 2022 after a terrific loan spell at Southampton. Sadly injury has blighted his progress ever since.
