Andorra vs England LIVE: World Cup qualifier result, final score and reaction tonight
World Cup qualifier latest score and live updates
A step closer to Qatar, without having to break into a sprint.
On an artificial pitch, England played out another win that could barely be called a real football match.
The only significance of this 5-0 win away to Andorra was the first international goals for Ben Chilwell and Jack Grealish, who will at least have something to remember from a match most people will immediately forget.
Perhaps the most accurate description of this game was that it was mostly a pleasant stroll through Pyrenean hills for the superb Phil Foden.
The playmaker both decorated the game and decided it, since it was his supreme passes that set up the first two goals that settled this game.
Andorra 0 - 0 England
9 mins: Kieran Trippier and Bukayo Saka combine to work the ball down the right wing. Saka brings it into the box and lays a pass off to Jesse Lingard. Lingard sends a teasing pass towards the near post but Saka doesn’t continue his run and Gomes sweeps it up.
Andorra 0 - 0 England
6 mins: Phil Foden receives the ball in the middle of the Andorran half. He flicks a pass over the top as Ben Chilwell makes a run in behind the lines from the left wing. He brings down the ball but his first touch rolls it away from him. Goalkeeper Josep Gomes comes flying off his line and smothers it after beating Chilwell to the loose ball.
Andorra 0 - 0 England
3 mins: Marc Garcia tackles Bukayo Saka and gives England an early free kick over on the right wing. James Ward-Prowse swings the set piece into the box where Conor Coady and Max Llovera challenge for the ball. The Andorran defender does just enough to get above Coady and he knocks the ball behind for a corner.
Andorra 0 - 0 England
Kick off: Andorra get the match underway after a couple of false starts. A long ball comes up the pitch and is won by John Stones. Andorra managed just one attempt on their way to a 4-0 defeat at Wembley on 5th September so expect England to see lots of the ball.
Here come the teams
There’s a reduced crowd capacity of around 2,300 watching in the stadium tonight with about half of them being England fans. The players head out onto the pitch and get a warm welcome from the waiting fans.
Pre-match thoughts of Gareth Southgate
Gareth Southgate spoke to ITV before kick off touching on the topics of the artificial pitch, Jadon Sancho and Tammy Abraham’s recall. He said:
This job is always a hot seat! Yesterday’s fire was dealt with really quickly. I don’t think there was any doubt really about the game.
“The pitch has been laid fairly recently. The ball will roll quickly and we won’t use the surface as an excuse.
“This really is the type of game we need players like Jadon Sancho to have the freedom to play.
“Tammy [Abraham] really comes alive in the box.”
Away days
A few hundred England fans have travelled to Andorra which is located in the high mountains of the Pyrenees between France and Spain.
For context the population of Andorra is around 79,300 and the capacity of Wembley is around 90,000.
This is the first England away game since Covid travel restrictions were lifted and the fans will be ready to enjoy themselves tonight.
Closing in on kick off
Kick off is just 15 minutes away. England are going through their final warm ups.
Most of the team this evening are seen as second choices to Gareth Southgate’s preferred starting XI so they’ll want to take this opportunity to impress.
Togetherness and problem-solving highlight England’s improvement ahead of Andorra clash
As Gareth Southgate reflects on the half-decade anniversary of his time in the England job, he makes a striking revelation. When he first started to pick squads, and call around, “there were several players that weren’t interested in coming”.
The squad’s joy at joining up is now one of his greatest sources of pride from this period in the job.
“Now the players are desperate to be a part of it even though they haven’t quite been in the initial squad selected, so for me that’s a good feel for the way the players are, the way the camps are, that they enjoy coming and they want to be a part of it.”
Togetherness highlights England’s improvement ahead of Andorra clash
There is always more to take from the match for the manager than merely an expected three points
Any chance for Andorra?
England have only trailed for eight minutes and 53 seconds across their last 16 international matches, all of which came during the Euro 2020 semi-final against Denmark.
They have only fallen behind in two of their last 24 World Cup qualifiers, against Scotland in June 2017 (drew 2-2) and Slovakia in September 2017 (won 2-1).
This is going to be a tough one for the hosts.
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