Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze ensured England signed off their penultimate World Cup qualifier with a deserved 2-0 victory over Serbia, despite Thomas Tuchel‘s side having already secured their place at the 2026 tournament.
Saka willingly answered Tuchel’s calls for him to score more goals in an England shirt, scoring a wonderful, volleyed shot to find the back of the net in the 28th minute.
Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden, who were both left out of Thomas Tuchel’s starting line-up, were introduced late on after the England boss’ claims that the pair and Harry Kane cannot all fit into the same side together.
It was the Manchester City man who made the difference of the trio, with Foden sliding a perfectly weighted pass for Eze to seal the win in the 90th minute.
Jordan Pickford, meanwhile, recorded his ninth consecutive competitive clean sheet – extending his remarkable record-breaking run between the posts for England.
Daily Mail Sport‘s IAN LADYMAN was at Wembley on Thursday night to gives his verdict, with next summer’s World Cup drawing ever near.
Bukayo Saka answered Thomas Tuchel’s call for more goals during England’s win over Serbia
Thomas Tuchel’s side, who had already qualified for the World Cup, won 2-0 at Wembley
Eberechi Eze netted in the 90th minute after being set up superbly by substitute Phil Foden
IS THE RASHFORD RESURRECTION COMPLETE?
Thomas Tuchel said before this game that he thinks he knows eight of his preferred starting line-up for next summer’s World Cup but I am beginning to wonder if the form of Marcus Rashford is slowly wrapping up another position on the left side of midfield.
Tuchel has a liking for Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon. He likes the directness that he brings and sees it as a contrast to the more intricate play of Bukayo Saka on the other side of the field. But Rashford’s form for Barcelona is being mirrored for England now and he was arguably his country’s best player on an otherwise rather slow night at Wembley.
Rashford lost his way at United and as he did his football became uncertain. Now he looks a lot more like his old self and seems to have realised that he is at his most dangerous when he is running at defenders and unsettling them. On another day, he would have had a goal here and with that in mind it’s not hard to imagine him operating as an emergency centre forward if the need arose.
Talking last night about Phil Foden’s cameo as a false nine, Tuchel said he still had other ideas about alternatives to Harry Kane ‘that I don’t want to talk about’. It’s a fair bet that Rashford will be one of them, as indeed is the largely under-used but always selected Jarrod Bowen. Tuchel name checked Danny Welbeck last night but is yet to pick him and is unlikely to start now. As for Ollie Watkins, the Aston Villa player needs to do more for his club.
WHERE IS HARRY?
Another summer tournament beckons and still the same version of Harry Kane exists. Tuchel was full of praise afterwards. ‘He is in the form of his life,’ said Tuchel in his post-match press conference and it’s easy to see his point.
In last night’s game Kane was often his team’s best passer but that only points to how he continues to drop desperately deep in search of the ball. The infuriating thing is that Kane is really good at it. His passing range is enormous and his accuracy is rarely off beam. But it’s one thing doing this on a mild November night against poor opposition and quite another during a World Cup summer in hot conditions and against better teams.
The point is that we have been here before and it hasn’t always worked out well. Kane fell into this trap in Qatar in the winter World Cup of 2022 and indeed in the European Championships of 2024. And it didn’t help England. He was relatively poor as a goal threat in both tournaments.
Tuchel believes next summer’s World Cup will be won by an organised team capable of producing big moments. None of that points to a centre forward who insists on covering every blade. The sight of Kane tackling Serbia centre forward Dusan Vlahovic on the edge of his own penalty area and then appearing on the end of a pass 60 yards up field seconds later summed his night up. Try doing that in Kansas in July, Harry. England simply need to find a better way when it really matters.
Marcus Rashford’s excellent form for Barcelona in Spain is being mirrored for England now
Harry Kane continues to drop into midfield to create, despite him being England’s best scorer
ROGERS PLAYING THE ROLE
By comparison, positional discipline is one of the things that Tuchel really likes about Morgan Rogers. The Aston Villa player is not as prodigiously gifted as Jude Bellingham, who replaced him after an hour last night.
Indeed, there was an uptick in the speed of England’s play once Bellingham came on to an enthusiastic reception. ‘I was pleased with the energy and the attitude of all the substitutes,’ said Tuchel. ‘It will be a squad and not a team that does well in America.’
But while Tuchel frets about Bellingham’s tendency to follow the ball and therefore drag his team out of its shape, he doesn’t need to have that concern about Rogers.
This was not the 23-year-old’s best game for England and it will be a surprise if Bellingham doesn’t start in Albania on Sunday. He did not have enough touches in the Serbia penalty area and didn’t seem to possess that ability here to stretch defences and turn players round like he does when he is at his best.
But Rogers understands the number 10 position and is willing to play the role as his coach desires. That will continue to make him a genuine rival to Bellingham until the moment the penny drops for the Real Madrid player. Tuchel wants players to play to his pattern and to the beat of his drum. He doesn’t want mavericks as he thinks a World Cup will find them out.
WHAT A GENEROUS CROWD
Tuchel is not the first manager to express concerns about the atmosphere at Wembley – as he did after last month’s friendly win over Wales – and he will not be the last. On nights like this one it’s hard to find the answer.
A dead rubber qualifier on a wet night against limited opposition is not a recipe for excitement and from that point of view the game lived down to its billing. At times it was so slow and without edge that it was tempting to wonder just how it would have been received had it been played in the Premier League. But the truth is that the England crowd stayed with their team and it’s to be hoped that Tuchel recognised and appreciated that.
There were some paper aeroplanes drifting down from the top tiers after only ten minutes but we were spared a Mexican wave at least and the Wembley fans did their best to stay engaged right up until the moment Eberechi Eze sealed the result in the 90th minute. Tuchel’s assistant Anthony Barry said last week that a team of big moments will do well in America next summer and England produced two last night. Both goals were superbly taken.
Cole Palmer may struggle to find a way back into the England team when he returns from injury
IS THERE A ROLE FOR COLE?
There may be more than six months to go until the World Cup finals but there is only one more England camp after this one. That will take place next March and with that in mind it’s tempting to wonder if Cole Palmer is going to find a way back.
It is only a year ago that we were talking about building an England team around the Chelsea player. He remains the most gifted and imaginative English player we have but that may not be enough to help him during this cycle.
A poor second half of last season and an injury restricted campaign this time round has left Palmer on the outside looking in.
Chelsea are hopeful that Palmer will have recovered from his groin problem to play against Barcelona in the Champions League a week on Tuesday. If that happens then Palmer will have plenty of time to have a run at getting back in this squad. But, given what we know of Tuchel’s intentions and ideas, it’s hard to work out how or where he gets in to the team.
Jude Bellingham, Morgan Rogers and Phil Foden are already in competition for the position at 10 just behind Harry Kane. Foden was excellent during his half an hour against Serbia and Tuchel was happy to say. ‘From the very first minute and touch he was excellent,’ said the manager. Tuchel has no intention of playing players of Palmer’s ilk in a wide position so at the moment the odds are stacked against him. It just shows how quickly things can turn – one way or the other – at this level of the game.
