England vs Albania LIVE: World Cup qualifier result, final score and reaction tonight
Follow all the post-match reaction as England put themselves on the cusp of qualification for the 2022 World Cup with a 5-0 win
England moved to within one point of qualification for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar by dismantling Albania 5-0 at Wembley on Friday night.
Within 10 minutes of kick-off, Gareth Southgate’s side had broken the deadlock as Harry Maguire headed home a Reece James free-kick with ease – his celebration drawing the ire of Roy Keane in the ITV studio. Just shy of 10 minutes later, Harry Kane doubled the Three Lions’ lead by netting his own header, courtesy of a chipped assist from Jordan Henderson, who soon made it 3-0 with a tidy close-range finish. Kane would round out a perfect hat-trick before the half-time whistle sounded, first blasting a powerful strike across goal from a tight angle, then scoring a deflected bicycle kick from a corner on the cusp of the break.
England could not find the net again once the action resumed at Wembley, but Southgate took the opportunity to get Jack Grealish, Tammy Abraham, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jude Bellingham on the pitch from the bench, as well as debuting Arsenal youngster Emile Smith Rowe. The win kept Southgate’s team atop Group I of the European qualifying pools, their 23 points one fewer than what is required to ensure England a place at next winter’s world championship in Qatar.
Follow all the fallout and analysis from Wembley:
England vs Albania
England have never fallen behind in their five games against Albania, only facing Turkey (eleven times), Andorra and Colombia (six times each) more often without trailing for a single minute in their international history.
The Three Lions are unbeaten in their last 18 matches in all competitions, their best unbeaten run since going 19 in a row without defeat between November 1965 and November 1966.
But, Albania have won three of their four away 2022 World Cup qualifiers (L1) – in their previous 12 World Cup qualifying campaigns, they only won four away matches (P52 W4 D7 L41).
Warm-ups underway
The England players got a loud cheer as they made their way out onto the pitch the warm-ups. There are already a decent amount of fans in the stadium, waving flags and cheering the players on.
Should be a good atmosphere tonight.
England will hope collective strength can raise struggling individuals as Albania visit Wembley
Gareth Southgate’s England are close to qualifying for a World Cup, but have never felt further way from the form that fired their last tournament.
A core of the Euro 2020 team are very suddenly suffering some of their worst club issues for some time. The four points needed to secure qualification for Qatar 2022 are offset by the reality that at least six of the summer’s starters have been struggling for form.
Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire have been the subject of unwelcome focus at Manchester United, with Jadon Sancho barely able to get on the pitch to get any focus.
Admittedly, Jack Grealish is going through the process of adapting to Pep Guardiola’s football, but is some way off excelling. While Raheem Sterling consequently remains in and out of the City team.
The most conspicuous of all is the most important of all: Harry Kane. England’s normally free-scoring striker has only hit one goal in the Premier League this season, while the last qualifier – that disappointing 1-1 draw at home to Hungary – was the first in 15 where he failed to score.
England will hope collective strength can raise struggling individuals versus Albania
A number of Gareth Southgate’s side have been out of form for their clubs since the Euro 2020 final loss
England vs Albania
England have won their opening five games against Albania. They’ve won their first six games in all competitions against six different teams previously (Ireland, France, Finland, Luxembourg, San Marino, and Andorra).
Eight of England’s last ten goals against Albania have been scored in the second half, with Harry Kane’s 38th minute strike in March and Michael Owen’s goal in the 44th minute in September 2001 the only exceptions in this run.
The last home game of the year
England boss Gareth Southgate has said the goal is to win these last two matches of the year, against Albania and San Marino.
If the Three Lions can do that, and they should, it’ll complete a calendar year of 19 matches with just one defeat, in the Euro 2020 final in a penalty shootout against Italy.
Tonight’s clash with Albania is the last home game of the year and a packed house at Wembley is waiting to see if England can qualify for the World Cup this evening.
A different formation
England look set to play a 3-4-3 formation against Albania this evening in a change to Gareth Southgate’s pre-arranged plans.
The absences of Mason Mount and Declan Rice have forced Southgate’s hand and the England boss elected to bolster the midfield with Chelsea’s in form wingbacks, Ben Chilwell and Reece James.
Scotland secure World Cup play-off place
Scotland have just secured a place in the play-offs for the World Cup next year after beating Moldova 2-0 away from home to finish second in Group F with one game to go.
They face group winners Denmark on Monday to see if they can also secure a home tie in the play-offs but they’ll need to avoid defeat to do so.
England vs Albania
England have won all five of their matches against Albania, scoring 14 goals and conceding just once. They won 2-0 earlier in these World Cup qualifiers when the sides met in Tirana.
Albania are yet to score a goal on English soil against the Three Lions, losing 5-0 at Wembley in April 1989 and going down 2-0 in September 2001 at St James’ Park in Newcastle.
England forced into more midfield experiments by Declan Rice and Mason Mount injuries
The withdrawal of in-form Declan Rice through illness and Mason Mount’s dental surgery were the pressing concerns for Gareth Southgate leading up to tonight’s match. The absence of Rice and Mount left the England manager without two-thirds of what became England’s first-choice midfield during the summer’s European Championship and forced him into something of a rethink with Jordan Henderson and Reece James starting alongside Kalvin Phillips.
Southgate would rather not use these two games to experiment. It was not an accident that there were no international novices in his initial 23-man squad. The call-up of uncapped Emile Smith Rowe only came after Marcus Rashford pulled out and there have been no further replacements, with a decision taken to largely stick with the group of players that took England to their first major tournament final in 55 years.
England forced into more midfield experiments by Declan Rice and Mason Mount injuries
With England likely to be missing two-thirds of their first choice midfield, Southgate has a decision to make again
A first England call-up for Smith Rowe
Emile Smith Rowe has been in blistering form for Arsenal recently scoring in each of the Gunners last three Premier League matches and his performances have been rewarded with a first senior call up to the national team.
The delighted 21-year-old was beaming as he spoke about his experiences at St. George’s Park so far saying:
“It’s a bit surreal to be honest,” Smith Rowe said. “It’s crazy just being around the place and with all the players. I am so happy to be here and I am just going to enjoy it as much as I can.
“This is probably the biggest achievement I have had in my career so far. It is just different. Coming to St. George’s, being on a different training pitch…it is crazy. I am a bit speechless to be honest. I don’t know what to say about it all yet because it still hasn’t really sunk in yet that I am actually here.”
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