England maintained their 100 percent win record at World Cup qualifiers with a scrappy 1-0 win over Andorra in Barcelona, thanks to a second-half goal from Harry Kane. Head coach Thomas Tuchel later admitted the team lacked energy and quality despite getting the win.
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England maintained their 100 percent win record in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers with their third victory, but it was not the kind of performance their fans were hoping for. Playing against a much lower-ranked Andorra team, which is currently placed 173rd in the world, the Three Lions managed only a 1-0 win on Saturday in Barcelona.
England skipper
Harry Kane
saved the face for a side, which is still trying to win its first World Cup since 1966. Kane scored his 72nd international goal for England, which was the only goal of the match and came in the second half. It was enough to secure the three points but left fans frustrated. Many supporters even booed the team after the final whistle because of the way they played.
Harry Kane: ‘It wasn’t a great performance’
England secured the win, however, and sit comfortably top of Group K with three wins from three.
“It wasn’t a great performance and I don’t think many people will remember this one,” Kane, whose goal was the 450th of his career for club and country, told ITV Sport.
“It was a dry pitch, similar to next year at the World Cup so we will go away and analyse it. We weren’t good enough on the ball but we take the three points and move on.”
Why are England fans unhappy?
England are expected to be one of the favourites for next year’s World Cup and while it is difficult to read too much into a turgid display against defence-minded Andorra, head coach Tuchel will know big improvements must be made.
In six previous games against Andorra, England had scored 25 goals without reply, but even after they went ahead, there was no sense that the floodgates would open.
Andorra created a couple of chances to heap real embarrassment on their visitors, with substitute Guillaume Lopez denied a late equaliser by Ezri Konsa’s block.
From the opening whistle, England’s build-up play was pedestrian, and only Madueke garnished his reputation, especially before halftime, with some penetrating runs.
He tested Andorra keeper Iker Alvarez with a curling shot and set up a couple of other chances, one for Jude Bellingham, who, like most of England’s team, looked flat and well off the pace after a long season.
Kane wasted England’s best chance in the first half, shooting wide from close range after another dangerous ball by Madueke had been turned back by Curtis Jones.
If anyone was going to break the stalemate, it was likely to be Kane, however, and he did so in the 50th minute, stabbing a shot high into the net after his initial effort was saved and Madueke was alert to whip the rebound to his skipper.
Tuchel: We are not happy of course
Tuchel is the first England coach to win his first three games in charge without conceding a goal, but he did not try to put any gloss on a poor display.
“We are not happy of course,” he said. “We lost the momentum completely after the first 25 minutes and couldn’t get it back.
“We ended up in a period that wasn’t good enough with a lack of urgency and a lack of quality and a lack of energy.”
(With agency inputs)
