England rounded off a spotless World Cup 2026 qualification with a 2-0 win against Albania in Tirana.
It was the conclusion of a group campaign in which England won all eight of their fixtures without conceding a single goal, taking them into their World Cup preparations on a high.
Tuchel reintroduced Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham after he missed out on the squad in October after an injury lay-off and was named on the bench behind Aston Villa star Morgan Rogers against Serbia on Thursday.
Jude Bellingham was replaced by Morgan Rogers late in the game in Albania
Bellingham reminded England supporters and his international manager what he can bring to the side before he was replaced by Rogers after Harry Kane’s second goal of the afternoon put England two goals to the good. The 22-year-old was visibly displeased to be withdrawn.
“He doesn’t like it,” said Tuchel in his post-match interview with ITV Football reporter Gabriel Clarke. “Nobody likes it. That’s how it is. Morgan didn’t like it to be out and didn’t even deserve to be out.
“It was the decision. Jude was also on a yellow card and we made the decision before the second goal, and the decision stands.”
Bellingham’s yellow card was likely a factor in the rationale behind the substitution. Tuchel was clear that a Cristiano Ronaldo-style red card suspension at the World Cup was unwanted and Bellingham appeared to be simmering after receiving a yellow card.
Rogers’ England performances thus far have given England a more than viable back-up for Bellingham but talk of the Villa man unseating his friend in the starting line-up at the World Cup is likely to be wide of the mark.
England had to be patient to break down the Albanian resistance, with the home team stubborn at the back despite the early loss of Elseid Hysaj and able to counter-attack England, albeit culminating in finishing that might keep a few of their players awake overnight.
Tuchel was pleased with the different shape of the challenge and England’s ability to meet it.
“Nice match, I love it,” he told Clarke. “Serbia was difficult. Today was difficult. It got emotional – we were fully in control and then suddenly lost a bit of the control. But [we had] to overcome some difficult moments and to overcome an atmosphere like this, and… we had the quality to finish the game off.”
Tuchel’s Group K success started slowly but ended with an impressive sequence of performances that hinted at England’s grit, quality, depth and flexibility in advance of next summer’s World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
England won eight matches out of eight, banking the maximum 24 points. They scored 22 times – eight of them tallied by captain Kane – and didn’t concede a single goal.
Albania had already secured second place and finished the group ten points behind the Three Lions.
Sylvinho’s team are still in with a shout of qualifying for their first-ever World Cup finals through the play-offs. They’ll discover their semi-final opponents in Thursday’s draw.
