Thomas Tuchel’s England can confirm their place at the 2026 World Cup with a win against Latvia on Tuesday.
By Graham Ruthven
Qualification formality
Thomas Tuchel is just one win away from achieving his first objective as England manager – successfully guiding The Three Lions to the 2026 World Cup.
Of course, this doesn’t begin to outline the brief Tuchel was handed as England head coach, but they have to be in it to win it and the German can be relatively satisfied with how his team has cruised through Group K to this point.
The 5-0 away win over Serbia in England’s last competitive game was the best result and performance of Tuchel’s tenure so far. Friday’s 3-0 friendly win over Wales was another demonstration of the talent within the national team.
Latvia’s only win in World Cup qualifying came against Andorra with the 137th-ranked team in the world lacking much in the way of match-winning quality at the elite level.
Tuesday’s match in Riga threatens to be a one-sided affair. Indeed, if England play to their full potential they could clinch World Cup qualification with aplomb.
Key players
Morgan Rogers caught the eye in the 3-0 win over Wales and could keep his place in the starting lineup for Tuesday’s match against Latvia although there’s competition from Eberechi Eze, Phil Foden and Morgan Gibbs-White.
Bukayo Saka, like Rogers, found the back of the net and is expected to start in Riga with the Arsenal winger a key figure for The Three Lions on the right side.
Harry Kane could return to the fold after missing the friendly against Wales through injury. The Bayern Munich striker has netted 21 goals in all competitions for club and country this season.
Marcus Rashford could freshen up England’s forward line on the left side with the on-loan Manchester United winger in good form at club level for Barcelona right now.
Declan Rice will anchor things in the centre of the pitch while Elliot Anderson could start having impressed in his performances for England to date.
Vladislavs Gutkovskis found the back of the net in Latvia’s 2-2 draw against Andorra and has the physical presence to unsettle England.
However, Latvia will likely find it difficult to give Gutkovskis much service, putting pressure on the likes of Dmitrijs Zelenkovs, Aleksejs Saveljevs and Renars Varslavans to provide protection in the middle.
Team news
Ollie Watkins has left the England squad through injury while Kane is still carrying an ankle injury picked up in his final Bayern Munich appearance before the international break.
Jareel Quansah has also withdrawn from consideration through injury, although Marc Guéhi and John Stones were always likely to start together in central defence.
Paolo Nicolato could rejig his Latvia team from the 2-2 draw against Andorra in an attempt to make his side more solid defensively against the ball considering England will dominate possession.
Raivis Jurkovskis could be dropped in favour of the more defence-minded Roberts Veips who would give Latvia more presence in the back three. Otherwise, the hosts have a fully fit and available squad to choose from.
Prediction
England aren’t know for making it look easy in major tournaments, but getting there has been a relative breeze for a good few years now. With the Three Lions not having conceded so much as a goal in this qualifying group and with Jordan Pickford on a run of three clean sheets for his country, we’re expecting a comfortable World Cup place-sealing win for the away side: Latvia 0-3 England.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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