Gareth Southgate on Foden.
Barney Ronay on the young guns.
Player ratings.
... and that, my old MBM pals, is your lot. A reminder that David Hytner’s verdict is in. You know what to do: clickity click. Thanks for reading this blog. Nighty night!
A quick word with Gareth Southgate on the old Independent Television. “The application throughout was excellent. Could we get between the lines? Those diagonal runs were a real threat. There were some nice moments. Really pleased for Chilly, Jack’s first goal, Tammy, Prowsey, Bakayo ... they’re all players who haven’t scored that often for England, so it’s a special moment for all of them.”
David Hytner was at the Estadi Nacional. His report for the Observer has just landed. Here it is! There you go!
Elsewhere in Group I ... Albania have won 1-0 in Hungary, while Poland beat San Marino 5-0. England are top of the table, four points clear of the Albanians, and a further point ahead of third-placed Poland. That great result for Albania means England can’t qualify on Tuesday with a win over Hungary. They’ll have to wait until November, and the big-crunch visit of Albania. England finish their campaign in San Marino, just as they did back in 1993.
FULL TIME: Andorra 0-5 England
England spend the last knockings painting some very pretty triangles. Grealish, Foden, Watkins, Ward-Prowse and Mount very much in their element. Watkins passes up a chance to force home a Mount cross. Then the whistle blows. It’s now 28 games unbeaten in World Cup qualifiers, and Qatar is yet another step closer. Automatic qualification is surely just a matter of time.
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90 min: There will be two added minutes.
88 min: Mount fancies a bit of the action, and charges down the inside-left flank. He reaches the byline and dinks a cross infield, but there’s nobody taking a chance. After the ball’s recycled, Mount has another go from the edge of the box. That’s blocked and cleared.
GOAL! Andorra 0-5 England (Grealish 86)
The resulting free kick is caught easily by Johnstone, who sends an instant long throw up to Grealish, just to the left of the centre circle. Grealish jigs his way down the channel, sashays inside, then threads a shot into the bottom left from the edge of the box. That’s his first goal for England ... and what an assist by the keeper!
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85 min: Alaez takes a knee in the chest from Coady. Or was it a boot in the fruit bowl?! Hard to tell from the camera angle. It’s a booking, anyway.
83 min: Johnstone is forced into his first save of the evening! The ball’s forced through the middle for Fernandez, alone on the penalty spot. He slams goalwards, but Johnstone has anticipated the danger, spreads to block ... and the flag goes up for offside anyway, though the keeper wasn’t to know that. Something positive to take home for everyone in an England shirt this evening.
82 min: Jordi Rubio is replaced by Cervos.
81 min: Grealish dances down the left with his usual insouciance. He reaches the byline and pulls back into a crowded box. Andorra clear. The hosts are fighting hard to avoid this tipping into rout territory.
80 min: Watkins comes on for Abraham.
GOAL! Andorra 0-4 England (Ward-Prowse 79)
Ward-Prowse fires the penalty towards the bottom left. Gomes does extremely well to parry, but the ball breaks back to Ward-Prowse, who slots calmly into the bottom left.
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78 min: PENALTY FOR ENGLAND! Abraham flicks the ball into the road of Grealish, who bursts into the box and is crudely brought down by the ever-hapless Chus Rubio. The referee points to the spot.
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77 min: The England fans have been vocal all night, and they’re enjoying themselves. A big cheer when Tomori picks Fernandez’s pocket; an ironic one as Abraham falls in the slapstick style as he backpedals. Easy to laugh when you’re three up.
75 min: Some space for Mount down the left. His low fizzer of a cross clanks around a crowded six-yard box before being cleared.
73 min: England make a couple of changes. Sancho, who was superb all night, but especially in the first half, is replaced by Grealish. Lingard, lively in his dependable way, is replaced by Mount.
71 min: England take the wind out of Andorra’s sail with some calming midfield possession. Ping, ping, pass, pass, ping.
69 min: London Buses dept. Another Andorran corner! This time on the right. The ball’s worked back to Chus Rubio, who loops into the box from a deep position. Trippier makes a captain’s clearance.
68 min: Fernandez wins Andorra’s first corner of the game, down the left. Everyone piles into the six-yard box. Abraham clears with a powerful header.
66 min: Jordi Rubio goes in late on Ward-Prowse. Then Rebes looks for Coady and crumps his elbow on the England defender’s jaw. That’s clearly a yellow - it’d have been his second - but the referee isn’t of a mind to show one.
64 min: Andorra also replace Martinez and Sanchez up front with Fernandez and Alaez.
62 min: Lima, 41, goes after Sancho, 21. The veteran’s hamstring twangs. Off he goes, to be replaced by Emili Garcia.
60 min: After some more VAR dithering - this time for a needless offside check; while the on-field officials are women, two blokes are in charge of the screen tonight, so we can blame the patriarchy for this ongoing farce - the goal is eventually allowed. Then Tomori comes on for Stones.
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GOAL! Andorra 0-3 England (Abraham 59)
Chilwell slips a pass down the left for Sancho, who sends a low inswinger towards the near post. Lima doesn’t know where anything is, looking the wrong way. Abraham nips ahead of the dithering Gomes and pokes past the keeper and into the bottom left. Easy as you like.
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57 min: Foden, the boss of this game, pings a diagonal pass towards Sancho, just inside the Andorra box. Sancho sends a first-time cross towards Abraham, six yards out. Abraham’s effort squirts wide right, and the flag goes up anyway - correctly, this time.
55 min: Rebes is booked for a saucy little elbow into the chest of Stones. No real need. “The minnows have become very charmless haven’t they?” begins David Hopkins. “No intention to even try and score, just ludicrous time wasting, gamesmanship and unnecessary aggro to keep the score down.”
54 min: Ward-Prowse slides a clever pass down the inside-left channel to release Abraham, who sends a weird rising effort across the face of goal, high and wide of the top right. The flag goes up for offside. Had that gone in, I suspect VAR would have overruled the decision and awarded the goal ... but it didn’t, so, y’know.
53 min: Foden, 25 yards out on the right, aims for the top-left corner of goal. The effort is wild, but he’s earned the right to take a pop himself.
52 min: Foden, deep on the right, sends another delicious pass down the middle for Chilwell, who tries to cushion a header down and into the path of Sancho, but gets too much on it. Gomes claims.
51 min: Coady creams a lovely long diagonal pass towards Lingard, cutting into the Andorran box from the right. Lingard can’t quite keep the ball under control, and it’s a goal kick, but that nearly came off for England.
49 min: Sancho and Chilwell combine well down the left, the former eventually making his way into the box and sending a shot towards the bottom corner. Gomes gathers the slightly scuffed effort easily enough.
47 min: England ping it around awhile. Foden then miscontrols the ball and ships possession, which qualifies as BREAKING NEWS, so immaculate was his first-half display.
England get the second half started. Neither team has made any changes at the break.
Half-time entertainment. Scotland and the Republic of Ireland both won earlier, and the reports have landed. Boom. Pow. Get clicking, my friends ... but do remember to come back for the second half.
HALF TIME: Andorra 0-2 England
Jadon Sancho - who rolls down the tunnel with Rubio, an argument raging - and Phil Foden - who receives a lecture from the referee for welting the ball away upon hearing the whistle - have been exceptional. Gareth Southgate doesn’t look too happy either, shaking his head in annoyance as he makes his way back to the dressing room. There’s been an edge to this, and while the lid stays on the rumbling pot for now, don’t bet against it whistling off in the second period.
45 min +2: England pass it around the back metronomically, waiting for an opening to spring into, or maybe just the half-time whistle.
45 min +1: Sancho is booked for kicking the ball away after conceding a garden-variety free kick.
45 min: There will be three minutes of added first-half time.
44 min: Coady pings a backpass towards Johnstone, who only just sorts his feet out in time to trap and pass away from his goalline. The closest Andorra have come.
42 min: Stones and Martinez go nose to nose over very little. Both are booked for creating.
GOAL! Andorra 0-2 England (Saka 40)
This is another lovely goal. England pass it around the back, hither and yon, for what seems like an eternity. Suddenly Foden snaps the hypnotic pass-pass rhythm by scooping a pass down the inside-right flank for Saka, who takes a touch before blazing a rising shot past Gomes at his near post.
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38 min: Trippier fires low and hard into the Andorran box from the right. The ball pinballs out for a corner. Nothing comes from the set piece.
36 min: Chilwell yanks Martinez by the shoulder and it’s a free kick out on the right. A chance for Andorra to load the box. Marc Garcia loops it long. Ward-Prowse, preparing to knock it out for a throw, is shoved in the back by Llovera, and the pressure, such as it is, is lifted. Free kick.
34 min: Another lengthy break in play, as Gomes takes quite some time over a goal kick.
32 min: Andorra’s possession stat has now dipped to 16 percent.
30 min: Christian Garcia can’t continue - looks like he stretched something while on the slide - and is replaced by the 41-year-old Ildefons Lima, making his 133rd appearance for Andorra.
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28 min: Nothing comes from the corner ... other than a cute nutmeg on the hapless full back Rubio, performed by Sancho. Manchester United fans must be wondering when England Sancho will turn up at Old Trafford. It’s got to be soon, he’s way too good, but it’s an odd thing right now, nonetheless.
27 min: Yet another corner for England, this time earned by Lingard down the left. Ward-Prowse takes, finding Abraham at the near post. Abraham can’t quite get anything away, but he eventually does enough to win another corner.
26 min: Trippier, the captain for the evening, takes the corner. The hosts clear it.
25 min: Corner for England out on the right. Before it can be taken, Christian Garcia needs lengthy treatment for some unspecified ailment. More waiting around.
23 min: Sancho fizzes another one in from the left. Abraham flashes a header straight at Gomes, who parries. Abraham can’t sort his feet out to deal with the rebound, and the hosts eventually hack clear.
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21 min: That was a lovely goal. Sancho beat the offside trap, took a touch before cutting back to Chilwell, rolling the perfect ball into the path of the left back, who whistled his shot into the bottom right. Shame about the VAR faff, but nobody’s perfect.
GOAL! Andorra 0-1 England (Chilwell 19)
After an interminable wait for VAR to sort itself out, the goal is eventually awarded. No surprise. That’s Chilwell’s first goal for England.
17 min: Foden crosses deep from the right. Sancho gets in ahead of the back four. Running left to right, he cushions back for Chilwell, who slams a low drive home from the penalty spot. It’s immediately disallowed for offside, but I reckon VAR will overturn this, and the goal will stand. Sancho looked on, by an inch or so.
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16 min: Sancho, who is beginning to cause havoc down the left, wins another corner off Christian Garcia. Vales heads the set piece clear. Andorra have enjoyed a princely 17 percent of possession so far.
15 min: Ward-Prowse’s long, curling, dipping delivery nearly loops over the keeper and into the top-right corner. Gomes does well to claw it out just before it crosses the line.
14 min: Sancho centres from the left; Christian Garcia heads behind for a corner. Ward-Prowse to take.
13 min: Foden crosses from the right. Chilwell meets with a header, but sends it well wide right from close range. England are getting closer and closer now, after a patient start.
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12 min: Sancho drops a shoulder down the left to make a little bit of room, and whips a stunning cross into the centre. Llovera tries the acrobatic clearance, and fresh-airs his bicycle kick. That seems to surprise Abraham as the ball falls to him, six yards out, and Marc Garcia is able to nip in and blooter away.
11 min: Ward-Prowse tries a similar trick, looking for Abraham down the left channel. Gomes is out again to claim.
9 min: Coady hits one long in the hope of releasing Lingard, but the ball skids off the artificial surface and through to Gomes.
8 min: Andorra are also quite happy to sit deep and defend for their lives. England are seeing pretty much all of the ball as a result.
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6 min: ... and Gomes takes his sweet time to get back up. Worth pointing out that Andorra are more than happy to break up the flow whenever they can; the ball was only in play for 38 minutes during their 4-0 defeat at Wembley. ITV prime time, right here, right now. And you thought Brucie’s Big Night was a low.
5 min: Foden, quarterbacking from deep, dinks a lovely pass down the inside-left channel. Chilwell is free in the box, but takes a heavy touch, allowing Gomes in the Andorran goal to smother. The whistle goes for a free kick, Chilwell having gone in a little clumsily ...
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4 min: Foul out on the left now, Martinez clattering Chilwell. Ward-Prowse, who will be seeing a lot of the ball tonight by the looks of it, takes the free kick. Andorra clear that too.
3 min: Ward-Prowse’s corner isn’t half as good as his free kick. The hosts clear.
2 min: Saka glides in from the right and is upended by Marc Garcia. Free kick. Everyone lines up on the edge of the box. Ward-Prowse loops it long. Coady, steaming in from the left, goes for the header but Llovera concedes a corner instead.
Andorra get the match started, launch it long, and lose the ball within ten seconds. England ping the ball around in brisk fashion. Saka has a quick look down the right but nothing doing.
The teams are out! Andorra are in their first-choice red, while England sport their white shirts. There’s a ceremony to honour Márcio Vieira, who is suspended tonight but recently reached the 100-cap milestone for Andorra. Then the national anthems are sung. England’s we know all about; Andorra’s is called El gran Carlemany (the Great Charlemagne) and tells the traditional tale of the big man recapturing the region from the Moors in the eighth century. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes.
Gareth Southgate speaks to ITV. “The players are used to playing on this type of surface. It’s been laid fairly recently, and the ball will roll really quickly and really well. It is a bit unusual but it’s not an excuse for us. This is the type of game where we need players who are good in one against one situations, good in between the lines. They’ve got the freedom to go and play, we want to see them try things. They won’t always come off, it will be against a packed defence, but we need creative players.”
Some new ground being broken this evening. The Ukrainian referee Kateryna Monzul will become the first woman to take charge of a senior England men’s match. Her fellow countrywomen Maryna Striletska and Svitlana Grushko will run the lines. The 40-year-old Monzul has plenty of big-game experience, having refereed the 2015 Women’s World Cup final between the USA and Japan.
This will be England’s first outing since the loss of two genuine greats. Roger Hunt and Jimmy Greaves were both integral parts of the legend of 1966. Both will be remembered tonight.
Yes, sir, they can boogie! In news elsewhere, there were absolute scenes at Hampden Park, where Scotland twice came from behind against Israel before Scott McTominay bundled home an injury-time winner. The play-offs are a very real possibility now. Play-off heartbreak ahoy! (Also, it was yet another masterclass in co-commentary from the peerless Ally McCoist, who summed up Billy Gilmour’s whirlwind performance on Sky thus: “That wee man deserves a bath.” Gotta love McCoist. Gotta love Gilmour.)
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Tonight’s game looked in doubt for a while yesterday, after a fire broke out in the television gantry at the Estadi Nacional. Happily a spokesperson for the Andorran FA later reported that there had been “no personal harm ... only material damage”, with some black marks left on the artificial pitch. We play on.
Tammy Abraham becomes the first player from AS Roma to represent England. The former Chelsea and Swansea City striker wins his first cap since coming on against Iceland at Wembley last November. Sam Johnstone wins his third cap; the West Bromwich Albion keeper has yet to concede a goal in an England shirt. Phil Foden makes his first appearance since the Euro 2020 semi-final against Denmark.
The teams
Andorra: Gomes, Jesus Rubio, Christian Garcia, Llovera, Marc Garcia, Jordi Rubio, Rebes, Vales, Xavier Vieira, Cristian Martinez, Sanchez.
Subs: Emili Garcia, Iker, Moreno, Cervos, De Pablos, Fernandez, Pujol, Pires, Lima, Alaez.
England: Johnstone, Trippier, Stones, Coady, Chilwell, Foden, Ward-Prowse, Lingard, Saka, Abraham, Sancho.
Subs: Rice, Mings, Tomori, Ramsdale, Kane, Henderson, Sterling, Watkins, Mount, Walker, Grealish, Pickford.
Referee: Kateryna Monzul (Ukraine).
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Preamble
Euro 2020 finalists England plan to send out a much-rotated side to face the 156th ranked team in the world ... so let’s give this one the build-up it deserves.
Kick off: 7.45pm BST.
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