Thomas Tuchel's England have booked their place at the finals after a perfect World Cup qualifying campaign. The "Three Lions" beat Latvia 5:0 to secure their sixth win in six matches.
The English are the first European national team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. The commanding 5:0 victory over Latvia puts coach Thomas Tuchel's team seven points clear of Albania, who are in second place. This means that England can no longer be caught in the remaining games.
Portugal, on the other hand, narrowly missed out on early qualification for the World Cup. After leading for an entire half against Hungary, the team let victory slip from their grasp in stoppage time. The 2:2 draw was not enough to qualify directly.
Cristiano Ronaldo was nevertheless able to make history. The 40-year-old scored after the visitors had taken an early lead to make it 1:1 and then scored a penalty shortly afterwards to make it 2:1. With these two goals, Ronaldo became the top scorer in the World Cup qualifiers and has now scored a total of 41 times. He had previously shared the title, with 39 goals, with Guatemalan player Carlos Ruiz.
Retegui shoots Italy to victory
Like Portugal, the Spaniards have not yet qualified. Although they won 4-0 at home against Bulgaria, Turkey did not show any weakness against Georgia and triumphed 4-1, leaving the decision to the last two matchdays in November.
The situation is similar in Italy's group. Around a month after Italy's narrow 5:4 victory over Israel, Gennaro Gattuso's team won the second leg at home with a commanding 3:0. The Italians thus remain in touch with Norway, who are currently in first place, and can still believe that they will qualify directly for the World Cup.
Latvia
England
- (26.) 0:1 - Anthony Gordon
- (44.) 0:2 - Harry Kane
- (45.+4.) 0:3 - Harry Kane
- (58.) 0:4 - Maksims Toniševs
- (86.) 0:5 - Eberechi Eze
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Liveticker
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Liveticker closed
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90.+4.End of 2nd half
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88.Substitution in Latvia
Kristaps Grabovskis
Midfielder
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88.Substitution out Latvia
Janis Ikaunieks
Midfielder
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87.Yellow card England
Ezri Konsa
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87.Yellow card Latvia
Marko Regža
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86.Goal for England, 0:5 through Eberechi Eze (Jarrod Bowen)
Eberechi Eze
Midfielder
Assist: Jarrod Bowen
Midfielder
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73.Substitution in Latvia
Aleksejs Saveljevs
Midfielder
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73.Substitution out Latvia
Lukass Vapne
Midfielder
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73.Substitution in Latvia
Marko Regža
Striker
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73.Substitution out Latvia
Vladislavs Gutkovskis
Striker
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70.Substitution in England
Marcus Rashford
Midfielder
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70.Substitution out England
Anthony Gordon
Midfielder
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70.Substitution in England
Dan Burn
Defender
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70.Substitution out England
John Stones
Defender
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66.Substitution in Latvia
Eduards Daskevics
Midfielder
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66.Substitution out Latvia
Renars Varslavans
Midfielder
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61.Substitution in England
Eberechi Eze
Midfielder
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61.Substitution out England
Morgan Rogers
Midfielder
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61.Substitution in England
Jordan Henderson
Midfielder
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61.Substitution out England
Declan Rice
Midfielder
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61.Substitution in England
Jarrod Bowen
Midfielder
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61.Substitution out England
Bukayo Saka
Midfielder
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58.Goal for England, 0:4 through an own goal by Maksims Toniševs
Maksims Toniševs
Defender
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46.Substitution in Latvia
Maksims Toniševs
Defender
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46.Substitution out Latvia
Raivis Jurkovskis
Defender
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46.Kick-off 2nd half
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45.+5.End of 1st half
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45.+4.Goal for England, 0:3 through penalties from Harry Kane
Harry Kane
Striker
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45.+3.Yellow card Latvia
Antonijs Cernomordijs
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44.Goal for England, 0:2 through Harry Kane (Bukayo Saka)
Harry Kane
Striker
Assist: Bukayo Saka
Midfielder
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41.Yellow card Latvia
Daniels Balodis
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31.Yellow card Latvia
Andrejs Ciganiks
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26.Goal for England, 0:1 through Anthony Gordon (John Stones)
Anthony Gordon
Midfielder
Assist: John Stones
Defender
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1.Start of the match