England defeated Latvia 5-0 to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. Thomas Tuchel’s Three Lions faced Paolo Nicolato’s Virchi XI at Riga’s Daugava Stadium on Tuesday night and wasted little time in getting a result.
England looked to take advantage of the opportunity from the start, with Harry Kane’s goal ruled out for offside just 50 seconds into the game. However, it wasn’t long before they officially took the lead, with Anthony Gordon scoring the opening goal in the 26th minute. John Stones sent a wonderful ball over the Latvian defense from deep and the Newcastle United winger collected the ball on the left.
From there he cut into the box, swung his right foot out, curled the ball past Krishanis Zubiedris and into the bottom right corner before racing away in celebration. Kane finally scored his own goal 44 minutes into the match, picking up the ball on the edge of the area and deftly scoring with his left foot.
The England captain then doubled his tally in first-half stoppage time. Antonis Cernomordis was deemed to have tugged on Kane’s shirt inside the Latvia box during a corner kick, resulting in the Three Lions being awarded a spot kick.
The Bayern Munich talisman then stepped up with a hop, skip and a jump before calmly slotting into the bottom left corner to take a 3-0 lead, with England extending their lead even further with 45 minutes left. Substitute Maximis Tonisevs gave the visitors their fourth goal in the 58th minute, spiraling the ball into the back of their own goal as he attempted to clear an inviting cross from Jed Spence.
Ebelesi Eze then clinched a convincing victory in the 86th minute when Jarrod Bowen broke through down the left flank, cut in with his right foot and slotted the ball in with precision. As a result of their victory in Riga, England remain stable at the top of Group K with 18 points with two games in hand. And the pressure will certainly be lifted if Tuchel deploys his team to face Serbia and Albania during the November international break.
This comes after many England fans were quick to speak out during the match, following high-profile criticism of Tuchel’s “silence” during last week’s 3-0 win over Wales at Wembley. As a result, the cheering in Riga was in full force on Tuesday night, with England fans heard chanting: “Thomas Tuchel, we sing whenever we want to” and “Thomas Tuchel, can we be heard enough?”
Things took an X-rated turn when some fans were heard sarcastically chanting, “Our support is shit.”
