Thomas Tuchel’s England wrapped up their year in the same dominant fashion they started it. After securing qualification for the 2026 World Cup last month, the Three Lions capped off their European qualifying campaign with a perfect record, defeating Albania 2-0 on Sunday.
England have now won all eight of their matches without conceding a single goal, making them the first European side to achieve such a feat after playing at least six World Cup qualifiers.
Tuchel, who began his England tenure with a 2-0 victory over Albania, repeated that success 240 days later—this time in Tirana with a heavily rotated squad.
As one team official put it,
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒚 𝒘𝒆’𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒚.”
Kane Shines Again as England Seal Group K
England topped Group K in commanding style, scoring a total of 22 goals across their matches. Captain Harry Kane finished the qualifiers in sensational form, netting both goals against Albania and bringing his tally to eight goals in eight games.
Albania threatened England early on, forcing goalkeeper Dean Henderson into two sharp saves from Arber Hoxha. In response, Tuchel introduced Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka to steady the ship and increase attacking pressure.
They finally broke through in the 74th minute when Kane headed in from a corner. The captain struck again in the 82nd minute, converting a pinpoint cross from substitute Marcus Rashford.
Reflecting on the performance, a coaching staff member remarked, “Kane’s leadership and precision made all the difference today.”
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