England vs Albania LIVE: World Cup qualifier latest score and goal updates for Tuchel first game

England vs Albania LIVE

The Thomas Tuchel era begins tonight for the Three Lions as the new head coach makes his bow in the dugout. It has been five months since the former Chelsea manager was confirmed as Gareth Southgate’s permanent successor and almost three months since he officially started in the role. This evening, World Cup 2026 qualifying begins with Tuchel at the helm.

Tuchel has already made a few bold selection calls in his first squad, with Jordan Henderson coming back in from the cold and Marcus Rashford getting a chance to impress despite enduring largely a season of struggle. Dan Burn and Myles Lewis-Skelly have been handed their their debuts, while Rashford is trusted from the off with Phil Foden on the opposite flank.

Morgan Gibbs-White, Jarell Quansah and Aaron Ramsdale have already been left out of tonight’s matchday squad, with only 23 of the 26 able to be included, but remain in contention to face Latvia in the second home qualifier on Monday evening. Follow the game LIVE below with our dedicated match blog, featuring expert insight and analysis from Dan Kilpatrick, Malik Ouzia and Dom Smith at Wembley Stadium.

England vs Albania latest news

• Kick-off time: 7.45pm GMT, Wembley Stadium

• How to watch for free

• England XI: Burn, Lewis-Skelly and Rashford start

• Score prediction

Malik Ouzia at Wembley

20:10 , Alex Young

Thomas Tuchel was straight in touchline conversation with Jude Bellingham while England celebrated that goal.

Signs that he is already emerging as a leader in the middle of the park.

GOAL!

20:07 , Alex Young

20min: Lift-off for Tuchel and lift-off for Lewis-Skelly!

The debutant darts into the area and onto Bellingham’s run, and nutmegs the onrunning keeper to score the first goal of Tuchel’s reign!

Malik Ouzia at Wembley

20:06 , Alex Young

You don’t think of Phil Foden as a chalk-on-your-boots winger but it’s noticeable how high and wide he’s playing. The big switch is always on an Declan Rice has tried it a couple of times already.

20:05 , Alex Young

17min: Kane wriggles through and into the area after Rashford and Bellingham combine to win the ball back in the D. Smart feet from Kane, but the final finish wasn’t there.

20:01 , Alex Young

14min: Now Jones gets into the area and to the byline, looks up and tries to find Kane with a cutback, but Albania can mop up.

20:01 , Alex Young

13min: Kane drops in and spots Rashford’s run into the area, who pounces on the ball but is shepherded out of the area so the move breaks down.

20:00 , Alex Young

11min: Bellingham is lively tonight, chasing down everything and always moving.

Dom Smith at Wembley

19:59 , Alex Young

Could be significant that Jordan Pickford is starting in goal tonight.

Dean Henderson said last month that he feels he is “neck and neck” with Pickford in the race to be England’s No1 under Tuchel. Rather than the two-cap man, it’s a 74th for Pickford.

He bypasses Gordon Banks, no less, who earned 73.

19:56 , Alex Young

8min: Jones and Walker not quite on the same wavelength so Albania finally get more than one touch on the ball… but kick it long and it’s back with Pickford.

19:53 , Alex Young

5min: First half-sight of goal for England as Bellingham’s run is spotted by Walker, and the midfielder almost brings it down with a super touch inside the area but Ajeti gets a boot in.

19:51 , Alex Young

4min: Albania chasing shadows.

19:50 , Alex Young

3min: England with all the early possession, as expected.

Dan Kilpatrick at Wembley

19:49 , Alex Young

“No surprises in England’s system, which looks like a 4-2-3-1, with Jones and Rice sitting behind an advanced Bellingham, who Tuchel described as an ‘8, 10’ yesterday.”

Kick-off!

19:47 , Alex Young

1min: Up and running at Wembley!

19:47 , Alex Young

We have a minute’s applause for George Eastham, a former England player who recently passed away.

19:43 , Alex Young

National anthems being belted out.

19:41 , Alex Young

Here they come, amid the fog of some fireworks.

19:39 , Alex Young

The players are starting to line up in the tunnel.

Tuchel on Lewis-Skelly to ITV1

19:39 , Alex Young

“Nothing but impressive, I can absolutely understand why everyone loves the boy.

“He’s ready to go.”

Malik Ouzia at Wembley

19:35 , Alex Young

“He’s not even kicked a ball yet but I’m already getting Harry Maguire, peak-Slabhead era vibes from Dan Burn in terms of potentially becoming a bit of a cult figure among England fans.

“He’s had to wait a long old time for it, but he could not have picked a better moment to make his England debut.”

19:33 , Alex Young

Right, the players are heading back to the dressing room. Not long to go now.

Malik Ouzia at Wembley

19:30 , Alex Young

There’s going to be a cracking atmosphere in here tonight. The official Albanian section is already pretty packed but from the numbers of supporters on Wembley Way I suspect there’ll be an awful lot mixed in among the home fans as well.

Captain Kane

19:28 , Alex Young

Harry Kane, of course, starts tonight as captain.

Kane made his debut for England almost exactly a decade ago, back in March 2015. He scored 79 seconds into his first appearance and has added a further 68 in the 10 years since.

He now plays under his fifth manager, and certainly his more experienced trophy-wise.

Kyle Walker speaks to ITV1

19:12 , Alex Young

“It has been good, it is exciting and it is a new era. I fully enjoyed it under Gareth [Southgate] – many great memories. Now, it’s turn the page and start again.”

“[Tuchel] wants a high intensity game of football. The team he has picked tonight shows that. He wants us to go and be exciting.”

19:02 , Alex Young

Two of our guys at Wembley.

18:57 , Alex Young

A little over 45 minutes until kick-off.

Dom Smith at Wembley

18:42 , Alex Young

It is hard to know how much weight should be given to the selection decisions tonight, because it’s such early days for Tuchel’s England, only his first game in charge.

But Curtis Jones has had an excellent season, showing for Liverpool and for England previously that he is comfortable in multiple positions.

Angel Gomes, Adam Wharton and Kobbie Mainoo (none of whom are in this squad) plus the re-called Jordan Henderson all have a chance of establishing themselves as Declan Rice’s partner in a double pivot.

A good display tonight could help Jones claim it for himself. Perhaps, in the manager’s eyes, he already has?

Malik Ouzia at Wembley

18:40 , Alex Young

A couple of debutants in Thomas Tuchel’s backline, which adds about as much excitement as we were probably going to get in personnel terms this evening.

Myles Lewis-Skelly could well prove a long-term answer to England’s left-back problem, but what to read into Dan Burn’s inclusion, which seemingly comes at Marc Guehi’s expense. Tuchel simply picking a man on a high?

He’s talked up Burn’s leadership a lot this week even as a newcomer to the group and perhaps having that kind of player alongside Lewis-Skelly is a factor, too.

And I wonder whether we might be seeing the German’s preference for a naturally left-footed centre-back as part of his pair as well.

Albania XI

18:34 , Alex Young

Confiemd Albania XI: Strakosha; Balliu, Ajeti, Djimsiti, Aliji; Asllani, Ramadani; Asani, Bajrami, Laci; Uzuni

England XI

18:29 , Alex Young

Confirmation.

18:23 , Alex Young

So, that’s debuts for Dan Burn and Myles Lewis-Skelly, a start for Curtis Jones and a chance to impress for Marcus Rashford.

England XI

18:20 , Alex Young

Confirmed England XI: Pickford, Walker, Konsa, Burn, Lewis-Skelly, Rice, Bellingham, Jones, Foden, Rashford, Kane

Match odds

18:16 , Alex Young

It looks like the bookies are in agreement.

• England to win: 1/8

• Draw: 6/1

• Albania: 14/1

(Odds provided by Betway.)

Tuchel out to restore England excitement and free pressure in new era

18:10 , Alex Young

As Thomas Tuchel prepares for his first game in charge of England, tonight’s World Cup qualifier against Albania at Wembley, in some respects we have come full circle.

Gareth Southgate found himself tasked with trying to free his players from the oppressive weight of history, appearing as much grief counsellor as football coach at certain points of his tenure, including before the landmark win over Germany at Euro 2020.

For Tuchel, the fresh challenge is now to free his players from the weight of raised expectations, a result of the enormous progress made in seven years under his predecessor.

“I felt tension and pressure on the shoulders of the players, and it felt to me that they were more afraid not to lose and not to have even more pressure added in their home country than the excitement to make something special happen,” said Tuchel, in a surprisingly frank assessment of England’s Euro 2024 under Southgate, which ended with defeat by Spain in the final.

Tuchel was offered a timely reminder of the burden of England’s history when asked if Sir Geoff Hurst’s second goal in the 1966 World Cup final win over his native Germany should have stood.

“There is still debate! I don’t think so, but there was no VAR at this time so it stands,” he said, in another skilful disarming of what might easily have been a tricky question.

Tuchel, above all, wants to free his players by restoring the “joy” and “excitement”, which he felt was missing from the Euros.

Read more here!

Head to head history and results

18:00 , Alex Young

As I mentioned below, Tuchel will be pleased with the level of his first opponent.

England have won all six of their previous meetings with Albania, and have conceded just one goal during that time – a 93rd-minute consolation from Altin Rraklli in 2001.

• England wins: 6

• Draws: 0

• Albania wins: 0

Score prediction

17:51 , Alex Young

As far as first tests go, Tuchel will know this could have been easier – like Monday’s opponents, Latvia, for example – but there will be very few excuses for not winning. The toughest opponents for the Three Lions during World Cup qualifying are expected to be Serbia, who come later in the year.

Tuchel will be desperate to get his reign up and running with a statement win, and the gulf in class between both squads is vast, despite a smattering of recognisable names in Sylvinho’s squad. All being well, England should win this comfortably, extending their perfect record against ‘The Red and Blacks’.

England to win, 3-0.

Predicted XI

17:42 , Alex Young

Here’s what England reporter Malik Ouzia has gone with for tonight.

Thoughts?

Predicted England XI (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Walker, Konsa, Guehi, Lewis-Skelly; Rice, Jones; Foden, Bellingham, Rogers; Kane

Three already ruled out

17:35 , Alex Young

Three players who will definitely not be playing tonight are Morgan Gibbs-White, Jarell Quansah and Aaron Ramsdale.

Thomas Tuchel called up 26 players, all of whom are fit and available for selection, but UEFA rules state that teams can only name 23 players in a squad for a fixture.

Nottingham Forest midfielder Gibbs-White was left out of Tuchel’s original squad but called up as a replacement for injured Chelsea playmaker Cole Palmer.

Liverpool defender Quansah and Southampton’s Ramsdale – one of four goalkeepers named in the squad – have also been omitted.

Jordan Pickford, Dean Henderson and James Trafford will compete for minutes in goal against Albania and in Monday’s second qualifier against Latvia, also at Wembley.

Early England team news

17:26 , Alex Young

Thomas Tuchel is set to make an intriguing first England team selection tonight.

Myles Lewis-Skelly and Dan Burn are the two new call-ups hoping to make their respective debuts, with the former perhaps more likely to get the nod at left-back given that both Luke Shaw and Lewis Hall are currently absent through injury.

Reece James is hoping to win his first cap in two years, having been immediately recalled by Tuchel, under whom he won the Champions League at Chelsea, but faces stiff competition from Kyle Walker.

John Stones is another Gareth Southgate regular who misses this first squad through injury, meaning there is an opening at centre-back alongside Marc Guehi. The identity of Declan Rice’s midfield partner will again be the subject of much intrigue following Conor Gallagher’s omission and Henderson’s shock return.

The squeeze on attacking positions behind captain Harry Kane is also eased by the absence of Bukayo Saka, a Southgate favourite who is still on his way back from a hamstring injury. Morgan Rogers is considered a strong candidate to start.

Kane is certain to lead the line at Wembley, with Dominic Solanke in as striking back-up while Ollie Watkins is out injured.

How to watch England vs Albania

17:17 , Alex Young

TV channel: In the UK, England vs Albania is being shown live and free-to-air on ITV1 with coverage beginning at 7pm GMT ahead of a 7:45pm kick-off.

Live stream: You can also watch the action live online via ITVX, which is free with a registration.

Welcome

17:12 , Alex Young

Good evening and welcome to the London Standard’s LIVE coverage of the 2026 World Cup qualifier between England and Albania.

You may have noticed, but it is also Thomas Tuchel’s first game in charge as England head coach.

Tuchel will have welcomed what should prove a routine first proper day in his new role as the Three Lions’ begin their journey to next year’s World Cup.

Kick-off at Wembley is at 7.45pm GMT. Stick with us.