England news conference as Thomas Tuchel and Harry Kane talk to media before Serbia match

Tuchel 'absolutely convinced' England on right path

Serbia v England (Tuesday, 19:45 BST)

Gary Rose

BBC Sport

Thomas Tuchel says he is "absolutely convinced" that England are on the right path under him, despite them labouring to victory over Andorra on Saturday.

A Christian Garcia own goal and Declan Rice header secured a 2-0 World Cup qualifying win at Villa Park.

It makes it four wins from four competitive games so far under Tuchel, although he did oversee a 3-1 loss at home to Senegal in a friendly.

In those four victories, England have scored eight goals and conceded none - but there's arguably yet to be a particularly eye-catching performance.

"We're getting there," said former Bayern Munich and Chelsea boss Tuchel.

"There's a lot of learning for me. International football is so different to club football.

"I'm absolutely convinced that we are on the right path. We have three camps very close to show that we will create an identity and see who has a connection with who."

They won - but have turgid England regressed under Tuchel?

Serbia v England (Tuesday, 19:45 BST)

Phil McNulty

BBC Sport chief football writer

England's players went through the formalities of a lap around Villa Park at the end of their victory over Andorra, but the sight of their applause being aimed towards thousands of empty seats was the brutal measure of this dire World Cup qualifier.

It is traditionally the role of the visiting team to quieten the home crowd in encounters such as this. In a reversal of the time-honoured strategy, it was the latest underwhelming display delivered by Thomas Tuchel's side that sucked the life out of the atmosphere.

England, as they have now done on four occasions under Tuchel in World Cup qualifying, won to cement a powerful position at the head of Group K. A 2-0 victory against the side ranked 174th in the world.

It would take a collapse of catastrophic proportions for England not to reach next summer's World Cup, but the brave new era that was meant to be ushered in when Tuchel replaced Sir Gareth Southgate after Euro 2024 has yet to arrive.

Indeed, Tuchel has yet to stamp any identity on England, who have arguably regressed rather than improved since Southgate's departure following the defeat by Spain in the Euro 2024 final.

It was graphically illustrated by thousands of England fans heading for the exits well before the end, Villa Park's famous Holte End a sea of unoccupied light blue seats.

Young Lions begin Euro defence with victory

Kazakhstan Under-21s 0-2 England Under-21s

Earlier this afternoon...

England Under-21s made a winning start to the defence of their European title with a comfortable victory in the opening qualifier in Kazakhstan.

Lee Carsley's side won the European Under-21 Championship in both 2023 and 2025, although most of the players from those successes are now too old to play in the tournament.

Arsenal winger Ethan Nwaneri, 18, gave the Young Lions the lead in the 18th minute with a low strike into the bottom corner following good work by debutant Divin Mubama, who is on loan at Stoke City from Manchester City.

Captain Jobe Bellingham, 19, headed in a second for England when he met a corner from Everton's Tyler Dibling.

Bellingham, the younger brother of England midfielder Jude, missed the European Under-21 Championship in the summer as he was playing for Borussia Dortmund in the Fifa Club World Cup in the United States following his £27.8m move from Sunderland.

Nwaneri almost added a third goal, but his curling free-kick was tipped over the top.

The 2027 tournament takes place in Albania and Serbia, with both host nations qualifying automatically in the 16-country competition.

How it stands

Serbia v England (Tuesday, 19:45 BST)

As expected, it is between England and Serbia for the top spot in Group K.

England hold a five-point advantage over Serbia, who have a game in hand, but slipped up with a goalless draw in Albania back in June.

Only the 12 group winners are guaranteed to qualify for next summer's World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

The 12 runners-up, along with four teams who performed well in the Nations League last year, will go into the play-offs.

Each side in the play-offs will have to play two matches, with four nations progressing.

Even if England somehow finished third in their group, they would be almost guaranteed a play-off place because of winning their Nations League section in 2024 when Lee Carsley was in charge.

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