Player ratings from England’s 5-0 win over Serbia in World Cup qualifying.
England’s 5-0 thrashing of Serbia in Belgrade was, by some distance, Thomas Tuchel’s best result as manager of the national team – the first time, perhaps, that his Three Lions had demonstrated the combination of tactical cohesion and attacking intent that will be necessary for a realistic shot at winning the 2026 World Cup.
As one might expect given the scoreline, most of England’s players were highly impressive amid the febrile atmosphere of the Marakana – but some of Tuchel’s charges made their case for regular caps more clearly than others. Here are our ratings for each of England’s players following a superb showing in Serbia.
Crystal Palace’s Marc Guéhi among England’s best at the back
Jordan Pickford – 5/10: The Everton goalkeeper didn’t have a single save to make, a testament to England’s domination of possession and territory, but gets marked down slightly due to his distribution, which wasn’t at its most precise – Pickford completed just two of his 13 attempted long passes from the back and gave the ball away in dangerous territory once, not that anything came of it.
Valentino Livramento – 7: Livramento’s attacking style seemed to be slightly cramped by his inverted role and it’s not a coincidence that nearly all of England’s early attacks came down the right, but the Newcastle United full-back was rock solid at the back, comfortably winning every one-on-one, and faultless in possession.
Marc Guéhi – 9: Guéhi isn’t being selected for his threat in the final third, but he picked up a goal and an assist in a match in which he looked exceptionally hard to handle from set pieces, an increasingly important part of England’s attacking arsenal, and could even have scored a second late on. At the back, he was pretty much faultless, making every tackle and winning every duel he had to.
Ezri Konsa – 6: Konsa was one of the few England players to have an indifferent first half, twice gifting the ball to Serbia in dangerous areas, although he did at least succeed in putting out one of the fires he started with a fine block. Much more composed and controlled in the second half, and found himself in the right place at the right time to score England’s fourth. You’d expect him to drop out of the side once John Stones is available again, but Tuchel did hint at playing the Man City gem in midfield before injury ruled him out of England’s last two matches.
Reece James – 7: James’ comeback continues to gather pace and the Chelsea man was efficient throughout, supporting Noni Madueke with aplomb down the right flank and supplementing the England attack very nicely. Worth noting that after Tuchel called for more long balls before the match, it was James who most often offered a runner for deep passes down the flanks, although those opportunities were ignored by colleagues who clearly aren’t used to knocking it long over the defence.
Arsenal’s Declan Rice rapidly becoming England’s most important player
Declan Rice – 9: The more central set pieces become to England’s play, the more important Rice becomes, and he picked up two assists from dead balls including the perfectly-placed cross which gave Guéhi his goal just after Nikola Milenković’s red card. He wasn’t bad in open play, either, popping up everywhere in defence and attack and running the show in a game in which England dominated the ball. That was largely down to the Arsenal man, who now has three goals and five assists for his country since the Euros.
Elliot Anderson – 7: Anderson was economical and efficient rather than exceptional against Serbia, and the dynamic ball-carrying quality he has demonstrated at Nottingham Forest was notable by its absence, but tidiness was all that was really required. A very solid first international break for the midfielder, who is likely to stay in Tuchel’s thinking going forward, amid competition from Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton.
Morgan Rogers – 7: It’s difficult to rate Rogers, not least because he was probably the least involved of all of England’s attacking players and found it difficult to get into open spaces – but on the rare occasions in which he was able to get on the ball, he made it count, not least with a lovely flick to set Madueke through for the second goal. He didn’t do much, but he did it very well.
Anthony Gordon – 6: Gordon still hasn’t really rediscovered his best form for club or country and England looked much more dangerous down the left when the Newcastle man was replaced by Marcus Rashford in the second half – but we still saw a little flash of his class when he darted between two defenders and stung the palms of Djordje Petrović with a fierce shot in the first half.
Noni Madueke – 9: Madueke’s attacking intent and ability to make himself available in the final third set the tone from the kick off, and while he took a little while to turn all those dangerous dribbles and quick crosses into actual production, it was sublime when it came, with a well-timed run and an inch-perfect lifted finish over the goalkeeper.
Harry Kane – 8: Kane just keeps on doing what he’s always done, which is reliably finding the back of the net with a minimum of apparent fuss. Few strikers would have made that header from Rice’s corner look so effortless but he timed the jump, angled his head and generated the power to put it perfectly into the side netting as though it was the simplest thing in the world. As long as Kane is still playing like this, England always have a chance to win matches.
Marcus Rashford shines from the bench
Djed Spence (sub 69’) – 6: Spence made his debut at a point in the game at which Serbie had largely given up and crawled into their shell, so we didn’t see much of his defensive work, and he was surprisingly conservative when supporting the attack, hanging back a little more than he might have done for Tottenham Hotspur.
Marcus Rashford (sub 69’) – 8: Rashford seems to have maintained his momentum from the second half of last season based on a cameo in which he lit up England’s left flank, forcing a superb low save from Petrović after slaloming past two defenders and then calmly scoring a penalty which he helped to create with a clever reverse pass. This is the Rashford we knew and loved from his early Manchester United days, and it’s a thrilling pleasure to have him back.
Jarrod Bowen (sub 76’) – 7: Bowen didn’t have much time to make a mark but was clearly desperate to do so, sprinting around the final third with pace and energy to burn. Picked up an ‘assist’ for a rightly disallowed goal but was otherwise unable to find a telling finish or final ball, not for want of trying.
Ollie Watkins (sub 76’) – 6: Watkins has had a slow start to the domestic season and wasn’t able to get going in a brief cameo in which he was given little service. Strayed well offside to finish Bowen’s fierce cross and otherwise cut a somewhat peripheral figure during a point in the game at which most of England’s players were happy to take it relatively easy.
Jordan Henderson (sub 81’) – 6: If Henderson had hoped to convince the many doubters that he was still worth his place in the side, a 10-minute substitute appearance didn’t offer him much of a chance to do so. Still, while he touched the ball just 16 times he completed 15 of 15 passes, so he probably hasn’t forgotten how to keep possession ticking over.
Continue Reading