England manager Thomas Tuchel has called Elliot Anderson “very, very good” on the 22-year-old’s senior international debut – but criticised Eberechi Eze, Marcus Rashford and Noni Madueke after the Three Lions laboured to a 2-0 World Cup qualifying win over Andorra at Villa Park on Saturday.
Facing opponents without a point and 170 places below them in Fifa’s rankings, England took a 25th-minute lead courtesy of Christian Garcia’s own goal from Madueke’s cross and scored again through Declan Rice’s header with 23 minutes remaining.
“[Anderson] was a bit nervous at the beginning of the training week and then he did good and we said ‘let’s try it’,” reflected Tuchel, who gave the Nottingham Forest midfielder his first call-up for the qualifiers against the minnows and away to Serbia on Tuesday.
“That was the test and he passed the test, so there’s no reason why he should not play in Serbia. If we decide to have the position for him, he’s ready.”
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
England World Cup qualifiers: Tuchel wants more
Tuchel sounded less impressed with forwards Eze, Rashford and Madueke. “Ebs had maybe not his very best day in the number 10 position,” the German told ITV Football after overseeing his fifth game in charge.
“He trained so well [but] struggled a bit with the decision making. The last pass, the last decision from Noni was not clinical enough.
“Sometimes [Madueke] has a bit of a lack of concentration and falls asleep in counter-pressing, but if we push him – if he pushes himself – he can be a very important player. Bukayo [Saka] is injured, so he steps up and that’s what he needs to do.
“Marcus Rashford had some good moments but couldn’t finish them with a clinical assist. It’s stuff that can happen against [opponents playing] 5-4-1.”
The 52-year-old was satisfied with elements of his team’s performance, adding that he has learned “a lot” about his squad and predicting they will “prove a point” in Belgrade, where they will protect a perfect defensive record against a side five points behind them with a game in hand.
Declan Rice gets his sixth England goal but what a ball from Reece James 😮💨⚽️ pic.twitter.com/KApmTuxfDm
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) September 6, 2025
England team vs Andorra
Rashford, Eze and Madueke supported Harry Kane in attack, with Marc Guehi and Dan Burn in central defence and Reece James and Myles Lewis-Skelly as full-backs.
Tottenham full-back Djed Spence – another newcomer – was on the bench, as were Aston Villa trio Ezri Konsa, Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins.
Real Madrid forward Jude Bellingham missed out following shoulder surgery and Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton 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
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’s opponents are 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 2-0 Andorra
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.
