Noni Madueke won praise for his attacking intent after the Arsenal forward’s right-wing cross created England’s opener in their 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifier against Andorra at Villa Park on Saturday.
After the Three Lions took 15 minutes to test Iker Alvarez, the minnows’ goalkeeper was beaten in the 25th minute when visiting centre-back Christian Garcia headed in Madueke’s centre.
“Crosses hurt you,” former England defender Lee Dixon told ITV Football, observing that full-backs Myles Lewis-Skelly and Reece James had previously sent in useful deliveries.
The deadlock is broken! ✅
Noni Madueke’s cross is inadvertedly turned in by Christian García and England lead 🏴 pic.twitter.com/vsyexLKJ1s
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) September 6, 2025
“Madueke gets it on his left foot, gets half a yard and just lifts it. It’s in the danger area and someone’s got to deal with it.
“Garcia will have wanted to deal with it better than that. The floodgates could open now.”
England vs Andorra: Madueke makes breakthrough
Dixon said Madueke and midfield debutant Elliot Anderson’s “first thought” is to “be direct, turn and face forward”.
“[They ask] ‘can I see a pass forward?’” suggested the ex-Arsenal full-back. “It’s the same with Elliot Anderson – his first thought is to try to break a line.
“When Madueke gets the ball, there are three players marking him. That means there’s space elsewhere.”
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Noni Madueke stats
After a youth career with Tottenham and Crystal Palace, Madueke rejected an offer from Manchester United and joined PSV as a 16-year-old in 2018, going on to score seven goals in seven starts and 17 substitute appearances during a breakthrough 2020/21 season in the Eredivisie.
Chelsea signed him for around £30 million in January 2023 and the Londoner contributed 13 goals and five assists in 67 Premier League appearances before moving to Arsenal in July for a fee that could rise to £52m.
Madueke, who is yet to score for his new club, was on the bench for the Gunners’ opening 1-0 win at Manchester United but started in their 5-0 home win over Leeds United and 1-0 defeat at Liverpool.
A regular for England at youth levels, Madueke helped Lee Carsley’s Young Lions win the Euro Under-21 title in 2023 and made his senior debut when Carsley was caretaker boss in September 2024, including an assist in a 2-0 win at home to Finland.
He has made seven England appearances and produced an assist for Harry Kane’s winner against Andorra in manager Thomas Tuchel’s first away game in June 2025.
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England team vs Andorra
Marcus Rashford, Eberechi Eze and Madueke supported Kane in attack for England, with Marc Guehi and Dan Burn in central defence.
Tottenham full-back Djed Spence – another newcomer – was on the bench, with Aston Villa trio Ezri Konsa, Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins all hoping to come off the bench at the stadium they play their club football at.
England were without Jude Bellingham following the forward’s shoulder surgery and midfielder Adam Wharton, who withdrew with an adductor issue.
Manchester City defender John Stones also pulled out with a muscle injury and midfielder Cole Palmer did not recover in time from a groin problem.
England starting XI: Jordan Pickford, Reece James, Dan Burn, Marc Guehi, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Declan Rice, Elliot Anderson, Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke, Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford,
England substitutes: James Trafford, Dean Henderson, Ezri Konsa, Anthony Gordon, Jordan Henderson, Djed Spence, Morgan Rogers, Tino Livramento, Morgan Gibbs-White, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Ollie Watkins, Jarrod Bowen
How to watch England v Andorra: TV and online streams
England vs Andorra kicked off at 17:00 BST (12:00 ET / 09:00 PT) on Saturday and is being broadcast live in the UK on ITV1 and STV.
Fans can live-stream the action on a vast variety of devices through the ITVX and STV Player apps.
Full England squad for September 2025 World Cup qualifiers
Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford, Dean Henderson, James Trafford
Defenders: Dan Burn, Marc Guehi, Reece James, Ezri Konsa, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Tino Livramento, Djed Spence, John Stones*
Midfielders: Elliot Anderson, Morgan Gibbs-White, Jordan Henderson, Declan Rice, Morgan Rogers, Adam Wharton*
Forwards: Jarrod Bowen, Eberechi Eze, Anthony Gordon, Harry Kane, Noni Madueke, Marcus Rashford, Ollie Watkins
* Withdrew through injury. Wharton replaced by Ruben Loftus-Cheek
England World Cup qualifiers: What group are they in?
England are in Group K alongside Albania, Latvia, Andorra and Serbia. Of those opponents, Serbia’s standing of 32 at the start of qualifying made them by far the highest-ranked team Tuchel’s side will face.
Serbia proved tricky opponents at Euro 2024, with only a Jude Bellingham goal separating the teams in their opener in Germany.
Including games as Yugoslavia and Serbia & Montenegro, Dragan Stojkovic’s nation have lost their last five meetings with England, although they held an impressive record of one defeat in their last 21 World Cup qualifying matches before the group began, winning 14 and drawing six.
⏪ Back in November 2021…
🏴5️⃣-0️⃣🇦🇱 pic.twitter.com/JfIJQD39r0
— England (@England) March 21, 2025
Latvia are ranked 137th and have never played England before, while Andorra are 174th and have lost all seven of the encounters between the countries by an aggregate score of 26-0, although only a Harry Kane goal separated the sides during the current campaign.
Ben Chilwell, Bukayo Saka, Tammy Abraham, James Ward-Prowse and Jack Grealish scored when England won 5-0 in Andorra in October 2021.
Albania are ranked 68th and lost 2-0 at Wembley Stadium in Tuchel’s first match in charge and England’s first qualifer on March 21.
They are one of five nations England have faced more than six times and won against every time, alongside Luxembourg (9), San Marino (8), Malta (7) and Andorra (6).
Togetherness and creating a bond 🤝 pic.twitter.com/hkQRundhgg
— England (@England) March 21, 2025
England football team World Cup qualifying fixtures
All fixtures start at 19:45 UK time (14:45 ET / 11:45 PT) unless otherwise stated.
Friday, March 21: England 2-0 Albania
Monday, March 24: England 3-0 Latvia
Saturday, June 7: Andorra 0-1 England
Saturday, September 6: England vs Andorra (17:00)
Tuesday, September 9: Serbia vs England
Tuesday, October 14: Latvia vs England
Thursday, November 13: England vs Serbia
Sunday, November 16: Albania vs England (17:00)
Sound on for this one. 🤩🔊 pic.twitter.com/ozcnaDn58Q
— England (@England) March 19, 2025
England games: What happens if Three Lions top group?
The top team from each of the 12 European Qualifier groups proceeds automatically to the finals, which will be expanded to 48 teams.
Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Portugal, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, France and Croatia are among the other favourites to win their groups.
What happens if England finish second in World Cup qualifiers?
England will be eliminated if they finish third or below and enter the play-offs between March 26-31 2026 if they come second.
The 12 runners-up in each group will join four Nations League teams in the play-offs, which will be drawn from pots based on teams’ records during the campaign. The games will comprise single-leg semi-finals and finals.
The draw for the World Cup finals will take place in December 2025. The tournament runs from June 11 until July 19 2026.
