#england-national-team

#england-national-team

Age appears no barrier for Thomas Tuchel's England. An 18-month contract as a one-shot deal North America or bust little need to plan for the future. Any legacy is bound up in the success or failure of Mission 2026, hence the expected presence of good tourist Jordan Henderson, 36 less than a week after the World Cup kicks off. Though Harry Kane is immovable, undroppable, there may yet be a vacancy for an athletic, intelligent, hard-working forward, capable of linking play and leading the press,

The former Three Lions captain played in the 1998, 2002 and 2006 editions of the tournament, experiencing some memorable highs and crushing lows. Who can forget Beckham's red card for kicking out at Argentina's Diego Simeone at France 98 - or his cathartic, match-winning penalty against the same opponents in Japan and Korea four years later?

As they like to say in the US, dee-fense wins championships. The sentiment is not an exclusively American thing. Attack wins you games, defence win you titles, Sir Alex Ferguson once said. And he should know, having won quite a lot of them with Manchester United. As England look forward to next summer's World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico, the idea has come to resonate, mainly because of how miserly they have been at the back under Thomas Tuchel.

Serbia's 1-0 defeat by Albania on Saturday means Thomas Tuchel's England can qualify by winning in Latvia on Tuesday, with two matches of their campaign still to play after that trip. The Three Lions have not missed a major tournament since 2008, when they fell short in qualifying for the European Championship under Steve McClaren. Tuchel's side have won all five of their Group K fixtures to date without conceding a goal.

We had one and a half training days to prepare against a well-trained team and we did very well. We could have been 5-0 up at half-time. We couldn't score the fourth and fifth ones. The stadium was silent. We didn't get any energy back from the stands. We did everything to win.

We did very, very well. We had an excellent first half, we were 3-0 up very quickly but could have been four or five up at half-time. Then we couldn't score the fourth one or the fifth one. The stadium was silent. Silent. We never got any energy back from the fans and I think the players delivered a lot to get more from the fans. So, it was difficult to keep everything going in the second half, but we did excellent, we deserved to win. Next step in the right direction.

The highly-rated teenage trio are all part of the Under-20s group under Ben Futcher preparing for a friendly match against Switzerland at St George's Park on Friday. However, all three were invited to work with Thomas Tuchel's senior squad on Wednesday as they build up to Thursday night's friendly clash with Wales at Wembley and next week's trip to Latvia for their latest World Cup qualifier.

At this level, you see the squad changing all the time, players coming in, players leaving. I think you've almost got to be a bit paranoid that you're not going to get in because it pushes you even further. You've always got to challenge yourself because the lads you're competing with are always at the highest level because that's the level we're playing at.

Absolutely, one of the greatest full-backs ever. I slept like a baby before games with Kyle there. He can handle top, top-class wingers in the world.

"Michael and I are very different players,"

Image source, AFP via Getty Images Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson is expected to make his England debut against Andorra. Anderson, given his first call-up by head coach Thomas Tuchel at the end of last month, is in line to get the nod in the 2026 World Cup qualifier at Villa Park later on Saturday (17:00 BST). He is likely to partner Arsenal duo Declan Rice and Eberechi Eze in midfield.