England maintained their perfect World Cup qualifying record with a 2-0 win over Serbia thanks to a fine Bukayo Saka volley and excellent Eberechi Eze finish, as Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden had mixed performances off the bench at Wembley.
The goals were standout moments of quality on a rain-soaked night in which already-qualified England struggled to hit the high levels they've reached in recent internationals. But Thomas Tuchel's side were markedly improved after he intervened midway through the first half after a lacklustre and sloppy start to the game from his team.
England's Bukayo Saka celebrates after scoring vs Serbia
Image: Bukayo Saka fires England ahead against Serbia
England had been 3-0 up by half-time in their past three internationals - including a 5-0 thrashing of Serbia in Belgrade - but were alarmingly slow out of the blocks here until an impromptu Tuchel team talk shook things up when Jordan Pickford went down calling for treatment on 23 minutes.
With Harry Kane dropping deeper to turn playmaker and Declan Rice more advanced, Saka and Marcus Rashford suddenly began to threaten. As well as Saka's volley, there were more good chances before half-time, with Kane heading wide and Rogers glancing off target after Rashford and Rice were unable to capitalise on a counter.
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Nico O'Reilly made his England debut at left-back, as Reece James and Marcus Rashford returned to the XI.
Morgan Rogers retained his No 10 role, with Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden on the bench.
Djed Spence dropped to the bench from the win in Latvia last month.
There were let-offs in the second half, though, with Dusan Vlahovic flicking wide and then clipping the roof of the net as Serbia - increasingly desperate - searched for an equaliser to save their World Cup hopes. This result, though, coupled with Albania also winning in Andorra, ends their chances of a top-two finish in Group K.
Eberechi Eze celebrates scoring England's second goal against Serbia
Image: Eberechi Eze celebrates scoring England's second goal against Serbia
The statistics look good for England. They are still yet to concede in this campaign, with Pickford's England record run of international clean sheets stretching to 10 matches. But at the other end of the pitch there is intrigue into how Tuchel will utilise all his attacking options.
Bellingham and Foden - benched with Tuchel favouring Morgan Rogers at No 10 - finally entered the fray after an hour. Foden, as a false nine, nodded a headed chance wide but made his mark late on, chipping a wonderful pass for an Eze shot to be flicked onto the bar before assisting his team-mate for England's second.
Bellingham, meanwhile, playing off Foden, buzzed like a player with a point to prove. There were a couple of exciting combinations with Reece James but ultimately the Real Madrid man became frustrated. If anything, this was another night in which underdog Rogers once again showed why he is liked by Tuchel despite competition from high-profile team-mates.
More to follow...
The draw for the 2026 World Cup will take place in Washington on December 5.
President Trump will join FIFA President Gianni Infantino at the John F Kennedy Center - a performing arts venue where Trump is chairman - to decide the group stage fixtures.
Announcing the draw venue at the White House in August, Trump said the World Cup was "the biggest event in sports", while Infantino declared the 104 matches would be like "104 Super Bowls".
The draw will take place from 12pm local time (5pm UK time).
The 2026 FIFA Men's World Cup takes place from June 11 to July 19, 2026.
It will be the 23rd edition of the tournament.