Thomas Tuchel leads England for the first time as the road to the 2026 World Cup begins at Wembley against Albania.
The Three Lions have reached the past two European Championship finals, but Tuchel has spoken bullishly this week about how he can take the team on to the next level following Gareth Southgate’s impressive tenure.
The German coach’s maiden squad has tacked back towards experienced figures, with recalls for Marcus Rashford and Jordan Henderson —two stalwarts of the Southgate era who missed out on Euro 2024.
Albania reached both Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, and a World Cup debut would be an incredible achievement for the squad and their head coach, former Arsenal full-back Sylvinho.
The Jugo Mobile is following the England vs. Albania match live, providing score updates and commentary
Latest live updates | Team news and lineups | Where to watch where you are
England vs. Albania score
| 1st Half | Goalscorers | |
| England | 1 | Lewis-Skelly 19′ |
| Albania | 0 |
Venue: Wembley, LondonReferee: Alejandro Hernandez (Spain)
Lineups:
England (4-3-3, right to left): 1. Jordan Pickford (GK) — 2. Kyle Walker, 5. Ezri Konsa, 12. Dan Burn, 23. Miles Lewis-Skelly — 17. Curtis Jones, 10. Jude Bellingham. 4. Declan Rice — 7. Phil Foden, 9. Harry Kane, 11. Marcus Rashford
Albania (4-3-3, right to left): 1. Thomas Strakosha (GK) — 2. Ivan Balliu, 5. Arlind Ajeti, 6. Berat Djimsiti, 3. Naser Aliji — 8. Kristjan Asllani, 20. Ylber Ramadani, 14. 14. Qazum Laci — 9. Jasir Asani, 11. Myrto Uzuni, 10. Nedim Bajrami
England vs. Albania live updates, highlights, and commentary
26 mins: Errrr, Albania have hit the crossbar. That was weird. Laci got into some space down the right, his cross was diverted up in the air, Pickford was all at sea and Burn had to head behind. England deal with the corner.
19 mins: GOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!! Myles Lewis-Skelly!!!!!
Breakthrough for England and it’s the teenage debutant. Rashford came in field, creating space for Lewis-Skelly to run into. Bellingham picked him out with a measured pass and he slots past Strakosha.
17 mins: Rashford does well to win the ball back high up and Kane tries to pick up the pieces in the box. Aliji does well to knock Kane off balance and Strakosha takes the ball off the England skipper’s feet.
13 mins: Curtis Jones goes scampering into the Albania box, some nice footwork to get around Asllani too but his attempted cutback for Kane is cleared.
10 mins: Rashford and Bellingham interchange positions to try to get something going but Albania hold firm. Looks like this will be a night of plugging away for England.
5 mins: The terms of attack against defence very much set here. Bellingham looks to make a probing run beyond Kane but Ajeti closes the door.
Kickoff: 1st Half
Laci gets us underway in persistent rain
5 mins before kickoff: Here come the teams. Anthems time. Thomas Tuchel won’t be singing along. Which is fine. Don’t be weird about it.
30 mins before kickoff: It feels like a pretty big night for Phil Foden. The Manchester City attacker went to Euro 2024 as the PFA and FWA Player of the Year but endured a mixed campaign in Germany. In truth, he has seldom got back to that form. It feels safe to assume that if Bukayo Saka or Cole Palmer had been fit then Foden would be sitting this one out. But a player of rare gifts gets his chance to impress the new coach and must not let it pass him by.
55 mins before kickoff: Everton’s on-loan Chelsea striker Armando Broja, only recently back from a long lay off, is on the bench for Albania. Similarly, defender Adrian Ismajli would usually be expected to start but is among the substitutes after missing training on Wednesday.
1 hour before kickoff: Here’s the England team. Debuts for Myles Lewis-Skelly and Dan Burn. There are starts for Kyle Walker and Marcus Rashford, while Curtis Jones joins Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham. in midfield.
Thomas Tuchel’s #ThreeLions! ? pic.twitter.com/92k57ClsXg
— England (@England) March 21, 2025
1 hr 30 mins before kickoff: We’re about half an hour away from official team news. There’s mounting speculation that Dan Burn will make his England debut five days on from scoring in Newcastle’s historic Carabao Cup final victory over Liverpool on this ground. It’s been some week for the defender.
2 hours before kickoff. Hello and welcome to The Jugo Mobile’ live coverage of the England vs. Albania World Cup qualifier. Or, if you prefer, the start of the Thomas Tuchel era.
England vs. Albania kick off time
This World Cup qualifying match kicks off in London at 7:45 p.m. local time.
Here’s how that time translates across some of the major territories:
| Date | Kickoff time | |
| USA | Fri, Mar 21 | 2:45 p.m. ET |
| Canada | Fri, Mar 21 | 2:45 p.m. ET |
| UK | Fri, Mar 21 | 7:45 p.m. GMT |
| Australia | Sat, Mar 22 | 6:45 a.m. AEDT |
| India | Sat, Mar 22 | 1:15 a.m. IST |
England vs. Albania lineups, team news
Myles Lewis-Skelly, currently occupying Sylvinho’s old left-back position at Arsenal, is one of two international debutants in the back four alongside Dan Burn
Marcus Rashford is in from the start in his international return, completing the front three with Harry Kane and Phil Foden. Curtis Jones is selected in central midfield alongside Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham.
England (4-3-3, right to left): Pickford (GK) — Walker, Konsa, Burn, Lewis-Skelly — Jones, Bellingham. Rice — Foden, Kane, Rashford
England subs: Henderson (GK), Trafford (GK), James, Guehi, Henderson, Colwill, Eze, Rogers, Gordon, Solanke, Bowen, Livramento.
Adrian Ismajli was a doubt for the visitors after missing training on Wednesday. The Empoli defender is on the bench.
Everton’s on-loan Chelsea striker Armando Broja is fit again after missing most of the current with an ankle injury but joins Ismajli among the substitutes.
Albania (4-3-3, right to left): Strakosha (GK) — Balliu, Ajeti, Djimsiti, Aliji— Asllani, Ramadani, Laci — Asani, Uzuni, Bajrami
Albania subs: Kastrati (GK), Sherri, Shehu, Manaj, Mihaj, Kumbulla, M Berisha, Muci, Ismajli, Pajaziti, Hoxka, Broja.
England vs. Albania live stream, TV channel
Here’s how to watch this European World Cup qualifying match across selected areas of the world’s major regions:
| TV channel | Streaming | |
| USA | Fubo, ViX | |
| Canada | — | DAZN |
| UK | ITV | ITV X |
| Australia | — | Optus Sport |
| India | — | — |
