England took their first step towards the 2026 World Cup on Friday evening, a 2-0 victory against Albania handing Thomas Tuchel a win in his first game in charge.
With the recalled Marcus Rashford offering width on the left-hand side of the Wembley turf, England enjoyed a good early spell of pressure with Jude Bellingham at the heart of much of their good work as he made the most of the space created by Rashford's position and Harry Kane's forays into deeper areas.
Bellingham was also key to the goal that broke the deadlock, sliding a pass through to debutant Myles Lewis-Skelly for a well-taken finish.
Fellow new-boy Dan Burn crashed a header against the bar towards the end of the half but Albania retained their shape and composure and started to offer more of a threat after the break, Ezri Konsa having to be alert to thwart their best opportunity before Kane wrapped up the three points with a composed strike from inside the area.
Latvia are next up for England on Monday evening and Tuchel may use the opportunity to see some different players against a side ranked lower than Albania and who opened their campaign on Friday evening by squeezing past Andorra by a single goal.
The final team in England's qualifying group, Serbia, are in Nations League action during this international break and showed their quality with a 1-1 draw in Austria on Thursday evening.
