David Hytner is in Tirana for us and has filed his match report:
Thomas Tuchel speaks to TV on Jude Bellingham coming off for Morgan Rogers:
He didn’t like it. No one likes it. Morgan didn’t like it to be out and he also didn’t deserve to be out.
Tuchel also says he’s pleased with Adam Wharton’s first start, despite some “sloppy” passes, and says Jarell Quansah looks like he’s had 50 caps already on his debut.
Harry Kane is asked on TV about the standard of England’s squad going into a World Cup year:
It’s as good as we’ve ever had. We’re going to go into the tournament as one of the favourites. We’ve been building, we’ve had a great year together with the new coach and now we look forward to 2026.
Full time: Albania 0-2 England
England are heading to the World Cup with a perfect qualification record. Eight wins out of eight, 22 goals scored and none conceded. Harry Kane’s double did the job here to give Thomas Tuchel a satisfactory end to 2025. Bigger tests, of course, will come next year, but things are looking up.
90+4 min: Kane isn’t and goes in search of his hat-trick. He collects Rashford’s cross and swings his left foot at it, Djimsiti deflecting the shot wide. Rashford then flashes a shot past the post from the edge of the box.
90+3 min: Albania have made all their subs so will finish with 10 men. England look content to play this one out.
90+2 min: Broja is carried off on a stretcher in tears and quite a lot of pain.
90 min: Five minutes of added time. Broja is still down and the stretcher comes on.
89 min: Broja goes down holding his ankle after turning and it looks pretty desperate. The former Chelsea striker has had so many injury problems. He’s distraught.
Updated
88 min: Rashford tests Balliu again but moves it inside this time. England look much more comfortable in possession with Foden and Anderson in midfield. Rogers is caught out but the Albania counterattack goes nowhere.
Updated
86 min: That second goal has killed the contest. Albania were well in it before that.
84 min: Morgan Rogers comes on for Bellingham, while Albania replace Laci with Pajaziti.
GOAL! Albania 0-2 England (Kane 82)
Rashford fronts up Balliu, jinks inside and whips a cross to the back post where Kane is waiting to nod it pack across goal and out of Strakosha’s reach. Quality cross and the finish you come to expect from Kane.
Updated
81 min: Asllani sends the free-kick into the box and Djimsiti is there but his header loops up and lands on the roof of the net.
80 min: Albania have made a change too. Broja is on for Bajrami. The Burnley striker sets off with Bellingham in pursuit. He holds off the England man and is brought down at the price of a booking.
78 min: Kane plays Saka in behind but his cut-back is cleared before it can reach Foden. Kane and Foden then combine on the edge of the box but the ball to Rashford is overhit.
76 min: Rashford and Anderson come on for Wharton and Bowen as planned. England and Tuchel can relax a bit, the atmosphere has fallen a bit flat.
Updated
GOAL! Albania 0-1 England (Kane 74)
The captain makes the breakthrough! Saka’s corner is flicked on at the near post by Aliji and Kane tucks it past Strakosha. Poacher’s finish. That’s 77 international goals for Kane – as many as Pelé.
Updated
73 min: Bellingham wins a corner for England as Rashford and Anderson prepare to come on. Saka heads over to take …
71 min: Albania’s left-back Aliji is down and receiving treatment as they prepare to launch a free-kick into the England box. Kane gets it clear and Asllani clatters into Wharton.
69 min: Henderson comes some way out of his goal to beat Laci to the ball with an excellent sliding challenge. Albania want a free-kick but the referee waves play on. England go up the other end and O’Reilly beautifully flicks the ball into the box. Saka hesitates and prods the ball across goal but no one is there.
67 min: Bajrami fires over! Hoxha’s cross is headed on by Burn and Bajrami takes a touch and shoots over. A presentable chance but rushed in the end.
65 min: Saka is involved straight away and has a shot saved by Strakosha. He’s leaning away from it as he hits the ball left-footed and it’s easily held by the keeper.
63 min: Saka and Foden come on for Rice and Eze. Bowen moves over to the left. Foden will play in Rice’s spot.
62 min: Stones is moving gingerly after landing badly from an aerial challenge with Laci. Changes are afoot for England.
60 min: Just over from Bellingham! Burn tries to get his head on Rice’s free-kick and inadvertently flicks the ball back to Bellingham, who is off balance and his scuffed shot goes over the bar. Good chance though.
59 min: Kane makes a run into the box between the two Albania centre-backs but Quansah’s cross is easily dealt with. England have a free-kick that Rice will launch into the box …
57 min: Strakosha saves from Eze! Bellingham’s clipped pass is perfect for Eze on the left but he can’t get the ball out of his feet properly and his shot is saved by Strakosha at close quarters. Bellingham’s backwards header from the resulting corner is also gathered by the keeper.
Updated
55 min: Stones picks out Eze in the penalty area but his cross is headed out to Bowen, who is closed down quickly and can’t get a shot away. He’s penalised for handball.
53 min: Albania have got their tails up. A ball is launched towards Uzuni but Burn gets in the way. Elliot Anderson is among those warming up for England.
51 min: Hoxha should score! Burn’s loose pass is picked up by Bajrami, who slides the ball across the penalty area to Hoxha and his first time effort is low and straight at Henderson. England massively caught out.
49 min: Henderson saves from Hoxha! The winger darts inside and launches a shot across goal from the edge of the box. It’s a good save from Henderson, diving to his left.
47 min: Bowen comes inside and picks out Rice, who touches the ball past Djimsiti and is checked by the centre-back but no foul is given. Albania go up the other end with Balliu, whose low cross is flicked on target by Laci but it’s no problem for Henderson.
Updated
Second half begins
No alterations in personnel from Tuchel at half-time.
Updated
Tom Hopkins emails in:
In terms of which ‘number tens’ are on the plane, it all feels a bit of a confected issue to me. I don’t think you can be serious about winning a World Cup without calling on what Bellingham and Palmer can give you at some stage. As far as Foden goes, it seems like the ‘build the whole team around him’ nonsense has been left in the past and Tuchel has identified a role he can compete for along with everyone else. Assuming it ends up being 30 man squads, I’m not sure you even need to make particularly hard choices to take them all.
It will be interesting to see if Tuchel tries Foden as a false nine again in the second half here. Kane has occupied Djimsiti and Ismajli and linked up well with Bowen but not had a great deal of chances of his own. Bellingham has been bright and set up the shot Bowen had saved – England’s best chance of the half – but you’re still left wanting more from him.
Half-time: Albania 0-0 England
It’s been a good test for England in the first 45 minutes in Tirana. The big experiment has been John Stones in midfield and that’s not gone brilliantly. Packing the middle of the pitch and pushing Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham forward is the intention but this is the first time Tuchel has tried it and it shows a bit. Arber Hoxha looks a real threat down Albania’s left and Jarell Quansah is having to keep a close eye on him on his debut.
Updated
45+1 min: Eze carries the ball a long way upfield but can’t find a pass. England win it back and ping it around midfield for the remainder of the one minute added on.
45 min: Bowen and Kane combine on the edge of the area but Rice is flagged offside again when the ball goes into the area. Tuchel is not best pleased. The promise of the first few minutes has faded and it often looks a bit disjointed in the final third for England now.
Updated
43 min: Kane heads away another Asllani corner. The ball goes back into the box and Quansah is there this time. Bellingham then bears down on the Albania area and lays it off to Rice, who had already made his run and is offside.
41 min: The very lively Hoxha picks the ball up and runs at Stones and Quansah again. It takes both of them to stop him but England still concede a corner. Stones heads away.
39 min: Wharton is booked after sliding in on Asllani in midfield. He gets the ball but a good chunk of Asllani’s right ankle too.
37 min: Great save by Strakosha! Bellingham feeds it to Bowen on the right, inside the area, and his right-footed shot is low and the Albania keeper gets a glove to it. Wharton’s corner is met by Quansah but his header is tame and gathered by Strakosha.
35 min: Rice’s free-kick is aimed at Burn but he can’t divert it goalwards and Albania clear. Bajrami gives up on Balliu’s over-hit ball down the right.
34 min: That corner comes to nothing but Albania sustain their attack for a minute longer until Bajrami glides past O’Reilly and Rice nips in to win it back for England. Kane wins a free-kick in the Albania half after Hoxka pulls him back. Rice will deliver again …
32 min: Jittery moments for England as Hoxha darts inside and runs at Quansah. Stones comes across and skews his clearance out for a corner. The Dinamo Zagreb winger is proving Albania’s biggest attacking threat.
30 min: A promising Albania move forward is stopped in its tracks when the linesman flags for offside for Uzuni when he looked on.
28 min: Bellingham spins Ramadani about 40 yards from goal and England have a free-kick in a central position. Rice clips it into the box and Strakosha picks up the loose ball.
27 min: Balliu’s first contribution is to ping a ball down the right for Bajrami to chase but O’Reilly sticks to his task and the danger is snuffed out.
25 min: Hysaj is down and has taken off his shinpads. His game is done. He’s been struggling for a few minutes with some sort of issue. On comes Ivan Balliu in his place.
23 min: This time Bowen tries to run inside his full-back but Bellingham isn’t expecting it and passes the ball behind him and out of play. Whoops. Eze and Rice aren’t quite clicking on the other wing either.
21 min: Eze comes infield off the left flank before Bellingham and Bowen combine. The latter’s low cross fails to find an England shirt. He’s being encouraged to put balls into the box but his right being his weaker foot, they often don’t have the quality.
19 min: Hysaj tries his luck from distance and it flies just over the bar! Henderson was worried enough to fling himself across goal. The effort came after Bellingham had timed a sliding challenge to perfection to deny Hoxha his own shooting opportunity on the edge of the box.
Updated
17 min: The game settles back into attack v defence. England’s play has slowed a bit but O’Reilly brings some energy down the left. Kane lofts a ball into the box and it eventually falls to Rice who can’t get over his half-volley and it drifts over the bar.
15 min: Ramadani is the first in the book for crunching into Kane high up the field. Bit of a sore one on the back of the striker’s heels.
13 min: Wharton’s corner is aimed at Quansah but Stones is penalised for wrestling Laci to the floor elsewhere in the box.
12 min: Bowen has seen a fair bit of the ball, mostly out on the right touchline. Eze, not as natural a winger, is yet to get into the game out on the left. There’s been plenty of movement and the Albania midfield are a bit unsure of themselves. Rice forces a corner for England.
10 min: Bellingham on the right and Rice on the left are free to wander into attacking positions with Stones and Wharton holding. Albania are just about keeping it tight.
Updated
8 min: It’s very fluid from England. Half the players are involved in a move upfield. O’Reilly finds Kane on the edge of the box and his first-time ball is too close to Strakosha with Rice running in behind. Slick.
6 min: Hoxha wins a corner for Albania. Asllani takes and Bowen is there at the near post to head clear. That got the crowd up.
4 min: Rice tests Strakosha. Bowen’s cross is headed up in the air and the Arsenal man controls the ball on his chest and hits it as it drops but the Albania goalkeeper gets down easily to gather.
3 min: Interesting shape from England. It’s a back three of Quansah, Burn and O’Reilly in possession with Stones moving into midfield alongside Wharton.
Updated
1 min: Bowen’s cross is hooked up and out for a corner by Hysaj. Wharton takes short, Rice finds Bellingham and his cross (or shot?) drifts out of play. Quick start from England.
Kick-off
Declan Rice sends it back to Dean Henderson to pump upfield and we’re under way.
A duet of well-dressed blokes with microphones lead us (well, not me) in renditions of both anthems. Classy.
Berat Djimsiti and Harry Kane head out with their pennants. Kick-off in England’s final game of 2025 is moments away.
Played 7, won 7, conceded 0. Easy as you like for England so far in qualifying. Beyond this group, they’ve now kept nine consecutive clean sheets in competitive matches – only two teams have done that in Europe before.
Spain are the only other team in European qualifying yet to concede a goal. For what it’s worth, Liechtenstein are the only team yet to score.
Sylvinho has done a pretty fine job at Albania since taking over as manager in 2023. They qualified for Euro 2024 as group winners and gave Spain, Italy and Croatia a good run for their money at the finals despite exiting in the group.
Now they are two games away from a first World Cup having confirmed their place in March’s Uefa playoffs by finishing second behind England in this group.
A lot of their squad play in Italy but names familiar to British viewers include Nedim Bajrami of Rangers and the former Brentford goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha. Burnley’s Armando Broja, who turned down an England Under-21 call-up in 2019, is on the bench.
Thomas Tuchel is hoping nobody does a Wayne Rooney today (or indeed a Cristiano Ronaldo) and gets themselves sent off and a suspension for the tournament next summer.
No red cards please. We are through and we are in a position with last man then the player holds the shirt he gets the red card. If there’s a doubt then it would be smarter not to do it.
If he goes in the last man example and if we can avoid it no red card of course. But I don’t want to make it too big a subject because then you have a cloud above you. But if you have the choice don’t do it.
Harry Kane could make a bit of history today. He’s on 76 goals for England and will draw level with Pelé’s total for Brazil if he scores today. Here’s a look at how the Bayern Munich striker compares to some of the (selected) greats at international level:
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) 143 goals
Lionel Messi (Argentina) 115
Pelé (Brazil) 77
Harry Kane (England) 76
Gerd Müller (West Germany) 68
Ronaldo (Brazil) 62
Diego Maradona (Argentina) 34
So, what about the Ballon d’Or, Harry? David Hytner heard his answer to that question this week:
I could score 100 goals this season, but if I don’t win the Champions League or the World Cup, you’re probably not going to win the Ballon d’Or. It’s the same with Haaland, it’s the same with any player. You have to be winning those major trophies.
We’re in great shape at Bayern Munich so that maybe makes the odds a little bit more in my favour. Same with England. Hopefully, if things go my way for club and country then I’m definitely going to be in the conversation for a trophy like the Ballon d’Or.
In other World Cup qualifying news, Portugal have joined England and friends at next summer’s finals after a 9-1 thumping of poor Armenia – without the suspended Cristiano Ronaldo. Hint hint. Bruno Fernandes and João Neves got hat-tricks.
And the Republic of Ireland have snuck into the playoffs at the last! Troy Parrott completed his hat-trick with a 96th-minute winner to deny Hungary in Budapest this afternoon.
Updated
Team news
Jude Bellingham is among seven changes to the England team that beat Serbia on Thursday. Adam Wharton makes his first senior start in midfield alongside Bellingham and Declan Rice.
Dean Henderson replaces Jordan Pickford in goal, while Jarell Quansah makes his debut at right-back, with Dan Burn partnering John Stones in the centre of defence.
Eberechi Eze and Jarrod Bowen play either side of Harry Kane in attack. Alex Scott could earn his first cap off the bench.
Confirmed lineups
Albania (4-3-3): Strakosha; Hysaj, Ismajli, Djimsiti, Aliji; Laci, Asllani, Ramadani; Bajrami, Uzuni, Hoxha.
Subs: Dajsinani, Simoni, Balliu, Cake, Ajeti, Manaj, Asani, Tuci, Pajaziti, Berisha, Daku, Broja.
England (4-3-3): Henderson; Quansah, Stones, Burn, O’Reilly; Rice, Wharton, Bellingham; Bowen, Kane, Eze.
Subs: Pickford, Trafford, James, Chalobah, Spence, Henderson, Anderson, Scott, Rogers, Saka, Foden, Rashford.
Preamble
Well, you could call this a dead rubber. England sealed their place at next summer’s World Cup a whole month ago. Albania themselves secured a spot in March’s playoffs with a win against Andorra on Thursday.
But with the World Cup just seven months and a few games away, there is no such thing as a dead rubber for the England players looking to convince Thomas Tuchel that they deserve a seat on his plane to North America. Not even the likes of Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden can be sure of a place in the squad until it is named in May.
England have won on all three of their previous trips to Tirana, the latest being a 2-0 victory under Gareth Southgate on the way to qualifying for the 2022 World Cup. It was lockdown. Mason Mount scored. Kalvin Phillips was in midfield. Jesse Lingard came off the bench. Those were different times.
It’s a 5pm (GMT) kick-off today at the Air Albania Stadium. I’d like to hear your thoughts on how England have done in 2025 under Tuchel, how you expect them to fare at the World Cup and who you think should – or should not – be on that plane. Views from Albania are also appreciated. Get in touch via email.
