England secured qualification for 2026 FIFA World Cup with a 5-0 away victory over Latvia in Riga.
Anthony Gordon curled England ahead with a 26th-minute finish before Harry Kane’s quick-fire brace put the Three Lions in control at half time, as he dispatched a 44th minute shot into the bottom-left corner before he found the same corner with a penalty in first-half injury-time.
Maksims Tonisevs’ 58th-minute own-goal from Krisjanis Zviedris’ block of Djed Spence’s cross and Eberechi Eze’s 86th-minute finish wrapped up the win, which confirmed England’s place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup with two games to spare.
England now hold an unassailable lead at the top of UEFA Qualifying K, whilst Latvia remain fourth but their faint play-off hopes were ended.
England’s manager, Thomas Tuchel was delighted to achieve qualification as he explained to ITV post-match that the team had dreamed of playing in next summer’s World Cup.
“Brilliant. Such a good mood in the dressing room. It feels very different because it is our dream to go to America and now we made it with another good performance and top result. Very happy.
“We are dominant in games, we are hungry. We have a lot of ball wins in the opponent’s half. It is good. We are on our way.
“It is a club feel because we play very aggressive with a high press. It is a very physical game. Everyone needs to buy into the idea because otherwise you cannot press so high. The guys train on a high level and the group is a very good group and it is a pleasure to coach them. Step by step we are getting there.”
Aware that victory would see them wrap up automatic qualification for the World Cup with two games to spare, England had the ball inside the net in just 40 seconds as Kane turned in Bukayo Saka’s cross which was quickly disallowed due to Saka’s offside position.
Tuchel’s Three Lions continued to press for the opener but struggled to break down Latvia’s five-man defence, during which Elliot Anderson rifled a 11th-minute shot over the bar from circa 20 yards.
Latvia’s resilient defending eventually was broken by a 26th-minute long ball from Stones which found Gordon on the left flank, from which the winger calmly cut in with a curled finish into the far-right bottom corner to break the deadlock.
Gordon, Kane and Anderson put further chances wide until Kane picked up Saka’s 44th-minute pass and rifled on-the-turn into the far-bottom left corner,
Kane almost got his second goal of the game just a minute later but headed wide, yet was fouled during the consequential corner by Antonijs Cernomordijs, although the incident went unnoticed by referee – Anastasios Sidiropoulos until VAR intervened.
Kane stepped up and smashed his penalty straight into the far-bottom left corner bang on the fourth additional minute, which left England in control at half time with a 3-0 lead and on course to wrap up qualification.
Latvia however almost twice capitalised on a quietened England display early in the second half as Vladislavs Gutkovskis broke forward in the 54th minute but his shot was cleared by Ezri Konsa, before he then fired wide a minute later.
England however further consolidated their win from a 58th-minute own-goal by Latvia substitute – Tonisevs who could only turn Zviedris’ block of Djed Spence’s cross helplessly into his own net.
Gordon almost won a 64th-minute penalty for England after he was fouled as he followed up Zviedris’ deflection of Eberechi Eze’s shot, but referee – Sidiropoulos ignored his penalty appeals.
Jarrod Bowen then curled wide three minutes later as England continued to dominate, but Latvia nearly pulled a goal back in the 68th minute as Eduards Daskevics dragged a shot narrowly wide of the left corner.
Eberechi Eze wrapped up the win with a 86th-minute finish after he met Bowen’s pass and cut into space to rifle low into the bottom-right corner.
England ultimately qualified with two games to spare without conceding a single goal, and will now turn their attention towards preparations for the tournament, which will see them play friendlies in March and June 2026.
What’s Next?
Latvia will conclude their campaign with a friendly away to North Macedonia on 13 November, before they visit Serbia in Leskovac in their final qualifier on 16 November.
England too will be in action on both dates with their last two qualifiers, as they host Serbia on 13 November at Wembley Stadium, London, in a 7:45pm GMT kick-off, before visiting Albania on 16 November in a 5pm GMT kick-off.
Teams
Latvia – Krisjanis Zviedris, Lukass Vapne (Saveljevs 73′), Raivis Jurkovskis (Tonisevs 46′), Antonijs Cernomordijs, Daniels Balodis, Andrejs Ciganiks, Renars Varslavans (Daskevics 66′), Robert Veips, Dmitrijs Zelenkovs, Vladislavs Gutkovskis (Regza 73′), Janis Ikaunieks (Grabovskis 88′)
Substitutes: Eduards Daskevics, Kristaps Grabovskis, Vitalijs Jagodinskis, Rihards Matrevics, Deniss Melniks, Frenks Orols, Kristers Penkevics, Ingars Pulis, Marko Regza, Roberts Savalnieks, Aleksejs Saveljevs, Maksims Tonisevs
England – Jordan Pickford, Djed Spence, John Stones (Burn 71′), Ezri Konsa, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Elliott Anderson, Declan Rice (J.Henderson 60′), Bukayo Saka (Bowen 60′), Morgan Rogers (Eze 60′), Anthony Gordon (Rashford 71′), Harry Kane
Substitutes: Jarrod Bowen, Dan Burn, Eberechi Eze, Morgan Gibbs-White, Marc Guehi, Jordan Henderson, Dean Henderson, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Nico O’Reilly, Marcus Rashford, James Trafford
Referee – Anastasios Sidiropoulos
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