England v Latvia: World Cup 2026 qualifier – live

42 min Bellingham fouls Zelenkovs and is booked.

40 min I’m so happy for Reece James, who seems a sound individual as well as being a brilliant footballer. I’m not certain why Enzo Maresca thinks he’s a midfielder, but it shows how much ability he has because most full-backs are moved the other way when a manager realises they won’t make it in the centre.

James arcs a beauty over the near-side man in the wall, fractions inside the post, and that is perfection – on his first start for two-and-a-half years! What a moment for him after all the injury agony – I can’t imagine the frustration of being good enough to do your job but not being able to do your job – which he celebrates by doing … absolutely nothing.

38 min England win a free-kick, 25 yards out, right of centre…

37 min Rashford shapes to cross and instead goes down the line – that trick is working almost every time – but instead of crossing immediately, when he has control of the situation, he takes another touch and the lanes close, so he goes back to Bellingham who can’t find a shooting lane, and England are eventually crowded out.

35 min …and again, the delivery is good with Bellingham up to make first contact, but this time his flick goes wide.

34 min England win a free-kick deep inside the Latvia half out on the right touchline, Bowen to take…

32 min A misjudgment from Savalnieks sees Rashford streaking into space, but again, his cross doesn’t quite find an England shirt in the crowds. On the one hand, almost all the threat is coming from him but, on the other, he’s not yet parlayed that into much – and as I type, he coaxes another ball into the box, met by Bellingham with leaping flick that sends it behind, wide of the near post.

30 min England win another corner and Rice’s delivery is good, but eludes everyone. They do, though, sustain the attack, Rashford feinting inside then pulling outside Saveljevs, left in a crumpled heap, but his drilled low cross is blocked behind and this time, Rice’s corner is poor.

29 min Darren Stallard adds to our knowledge bank”: In Latvian, surnames are grammatically gendered:

Masculine surnames often end in -s, -š, or sometimes a vowel.

Feminine surnames usually end in -a or -e, following Latvian grammar rules for declension.

Five Examples of Latvian Surnames:

Bērziņš / Bērziņa

Kalniņš / Kalniņa

Ozoliņš / Ozoliņa

Zariņš / Zariņa

Eglītis / Eglīte

In each case, the masculine surname ends in -s or -š, while the feminine form ends in -a or -e. This pattern applies to most traditional Latvian surnames.”

28 min It’d be soft, but the keeper does dive for the ball, miss, and get the man’s legs. If it’d been given, it’d stand; it wasn’t, so I think the on-pitch call will.

27 min Another good cross from Rashford, at which the keeper, under pressure from Bellingham, flaps. He then punches himself in the direction of the ball, getting a piece of Bowen, who can’t, as a consequence, prod it home; England want a penalty, and VAR wants a look.

25 min “Finally something on the MBM I can help with,” chuckles Thomas Hall. “Yes, almost all Latvian surnames for men end with an S (basically it indicates the gender) and amazingly that seems to be the case for first names too! This rule is applied pretty consistently, I think this is connected with a lot of national intention to protect against the Russianisation of the language. Hilariously this is the case for non-Latvians too – our son qualifies for Latvian citizenship through his Mum, but she has a Ukrainian surname, so he will be Latvianised on this passport there as Alexanders Kovalenkos. I hope he forgives us.”

Excellent, thanks a lot.

24 min Yup, England are asserting themselves now, Rogers freeing James down the right and the ensuing cross is a goodun, Kane shoving his marker before heading over the top.

23 min Bellingham makes first contact on the next corner too, but loops a header high.

22 min Rice swings out and Bellingham is up but his header hits someone – Rashford I think – and falls for Konsa, who must score! He donkey-kicks goalwards … and Zviedris leaps to tip over! That’s a terrific save!

21 min England are finding a bit more space and Rogers gets a few yards down the right, only to pick out Cernomordijds’ head with his cross. Corner.

20 min Rashford goes on the outside of Savalnieks and expects a late challenge that comes … but the defender does really well to pull out of it. He goes down anyway and there’s a bit of contact, but the ref is quite right to deny the penalty appeals.

18 min A long ball, Guehi and Poickford both come … and neither acts decisively! Gutkovskis is past both, a little wide but with a gaping net … and he wallops into the side-netting as if doing so on purpose! What a chance that was! That miss will haunt the nightmares of his grandchildren.

17 min Latvia will be very pleased with how this has gone so far. England have barely got in behind them, but as I type, Rashford digs out a decent cross which Bellingham attacks, the ball falling to but not dropping for Rogers, before Bowen slices wide of the near post.

16 min Guehi and Jaunzems both go hard at a loose ball, causing shins to mince; the free-kick goes to Latvia.

15 min Rashford teases a decent cross to the back post, but Bowen can’t quite get on the end of it.

14 min “I agree with you on set-piece goals,” says Justin Kavangh, who knows how to get his email published. “Especially corners, which always start from one of two exact places, so can be practised ad nauseam. Remember when all the “experts” used to claim that penalties were a lottery, impossible to practise? Tommy T will be having nein of that, and rightly so. Corners and free-kicks are the multiple bet in contrast to the penalty spot ‘lottery.’”

I agree – it’ so odd how often players hit the front man. I’m absolutely certain you can, and Arsenal players do, work hard enough to mean that happens a lot less than it used to.

12 min Do all Latvian surnames end with ‘s’? If so, is anyone able to explain why? I’m assuming they’re not all plural.

12 min They couldn’t, the ref blowing for Jaunzem’s’ shove on Konsa.

11 min Now Latvia attack, Ciganiks on to Bowen’s poor first touch and finding ikaunieks, who bustles past James and wins a corner. They couldn’t, could they?

9 min Rashford and Bellingham combine, looking to find a lane to play a telling pass or let go a telling shot, but in the end, the latter teases in a cross that’s cleared. England, though immediately regain possession – Latvia haven’t been out of their own half yet – but it’s pretty slow at the moment, so not too difficult for the two defensive lines to shuffle across and back.

8 min Better build-up from England, only for James to hump his cross beyond the back post, where Rashford, sporting a bum-fluff facial piece, retrieves then seeks to find Lewis-Skelly via nutmeg … but cannot.

6 min Eeesh, poor old Zelenkovs commits to a 50/50 with James, who bounces him like vintage Eunice Huthart. On the touchline, Tuchel puts head in hands at the ferocity of the mismatch.

4 min The problem, of course, with Lewis-Skelly inverting, is that hew won’t necessarily be there to help Rashford – a problem against a blanket defence, especially with a wide forward playing on the wrong side who wants to move towards goal. We shall see…

3 min A first ball in behind, by Rashford, and a first run in behind, by Bellingham, but the latter can’t quite catch up with the former. Still, though, those are the kinds of moves Tuchel will want to see.

1 min England knock it about, finding Bowen down the right, then they work it over to the left where Lewis-Skelly inverts. I know this isn’t revelatory, but he is so good – like Saka, the first time I saw him, after about 15 minutes I said “player” to myself. I wonder when we’ll see him play midfield on a regular.

1 min Away we go!

England, by the way, have never played Latvia, who’ve been having a terrible time of it in recent years. They’re in the bottom Nations League and are ranked below Madagascar among others, but did beat Andorra art the weekend, the first time they’ve won away in three years.

Anthem time…

Our teams are tunnelled … and here they come!

Tuchel hopes the team already have a better understanding of what he’s asking of them, and better connections between them. He says Rogers is a more offensive option than Jones and hopes he can use his power to penetrate.

Of James, who rhapsodies “an absolutely amazing football player” who can do everything. He’s fit, Chelsea are managing him, and though Walker played well against Albania, now it’s his chance.

Otherwise, he expects a back five and a low block – which I guess is one reason he’s playing a more offensive right-back and midfielder.

“I might read a little bit more into Foden missing out tonight,” writes Tom Hopkins. “For a long time, the narrative around him has been ‘too talented to miss out’, ‘got to find a role that gets the best out of him’ (I remember, a couple of games ago, Mark Pougatch putting on his Serious Voice to discuss that important issue). I don’t get the impression that Tommy T has any interest in that sort of thing – rather more ‘this is the role we need to fill, if you can’t or won’t do that we’ll move on’. Maybe that leaves Foden coming on as a sub for Bellingham/Palmer/Saka and being thrilling for 20 minutes, and maybe that’s a better idea?”

I’ve done radio with Mark Pougatch and can confirm that a) he seems a lovely bloke and b) that’s just his voice – he uses it to ask for a coffee.

Otherwise, I agree that Tuchel won’t be bullied into picking anyone. I’d be interested in seeing Foden on the left because he can keep the width while remaining a goal-threat, but half the team mooching about behind the striker is probably a thing of the past.

ITV are showing a really nice piece on Rogers, who’s been boys with Bellingham since they were young kids. He notes that Unai Emery is really good at getting players into positions which enable them to show their best selves, and when asked why City let him go, he’s honest: “I wasn’t good enough.”

I don’t think it’ll happen because winning tournaments is about minimising risk more than it’s about playing expansively, which makes Rice an automatic pick, but at some point in the future, I’d love to see midfield three of Adam Wharton, Bellingham and him.

“Tuchel primarily used James as a wing-back at Chelsea,” writes Gary Stover. “Unlikely here, I guess, but do you see him going forward, making crosses into the box?”

Definitely – it’s part of the job description but also part of his skillset. And unlike Alexander-Arnold, he’s got the recovery pace to get back in if he gets caught upfield, and the physicality to lean on opposing wingers.

“Kind of bummed that Sits n’ Sleide are both on the bench,” says Tom Smith. “Could have been quite the goal celebration. Maybe in the second half eh?”

I think Sits’ recent performances have been spotty.

Email! “I think the question of whether Burn is the next Maldini is kind of irrelevant,” says Kieran McKintosh, “when you consider a few things:

1. “He’s tall, like really tall.

2. He fights for the badge.

He’ll really come into play in the June qualifiers when we have Saka to do corners. He already went very close with Rice last week. As an Arsenal fan, I thought I’d seen Set Piece FC enough this season. But with Saka and Burn, we may be just getting started…”

I like scoring from set-pieces – there’s no excuse for not being good at so doing – but it might require a little more to win a tournament.

Another who’ll be desperate to excel is Reece James. He’s the happy medium between Walker and Trent Alexander-Arnold, a physical brute with defensive nous who can also score and create – provided his body doesn’t let him down. If he’s fit, he’s England’s best right-back option – by far.

Tonight’s a big one for Marcus Rashford. He wasn’t great on Friday night, but he’s proven at this level and has always been an excellent sub, which makes him a very useful tournament player – though I wasn’t surprised he didn’t go to the World Cup, I did think it was a poor call for those reasons. We can probably assume that Tuchel likes him, but he won’t get away with too many more poor performances.

I’m really looking forward to seeing how Morgan Rogers does tonight. I was more than a little baffled that Jones was picked ahead of him for the last game, because the Villa man is more physical, more of a goal-threat, and more likely to become a first XI fixture. Him, Rice and Bellingham is a helluva physical trio – you’d not want to face them, at all – before we even consider the firepower.

By the looks of things, Bellingham will have a deeper role tonight; I hope so. Though he can play as no 10, of course he can, what makes him unique, I think, is his ability to play the three midfield roles and the way he marries skill and vision with power and pace. That being the case, you want him involved as often as possible, dominating games rather than hanging about hoping to adorn them. I also think that he fills in the gaps left by Rice, whose energy and desire are first-rate but who isn’t good enough at taking the ball under pressure to be a top-level six, nor creative enough in attack to be a top-level eight.

I’m not massively surprised by the players missing out. Walker will not be a starter at the next tournament; Burn is a lovely story but are we really saying he’s good enough even though the competition is limited?; Jones is a good player, but are we really saying he’s good enough given the competition is stiff?; and Foden has played well for England so infrequently that it makes sense to give a different kind of player a chance.

Tuchel makes four changes to the side that beat Albania on Friday night: out go Walker, Burn, Jones and Foden; in come James, Guéhi, Rogers and Bowen.

I’m going to write these down, then we’ll ponder how things might look.

England (4-3-3): Pickford; James, Konsa, Guéhi, Lewis-Skelly; Rice, Rogers, Bellingham; Bowen, Kane, Rashford. Subs: Walker, Foden, Henderson J, Burn, Henderson D, Colwill, Eze, Jones, Gibbs-White, Solanke, Quansah, Trafford.

Latvia (5-4-1): Zviedris; Savalnieks, Jurkovskis, Cernomordijs, Balodis, Ciganiks; Jaunzems, Saveljevs, Zelenkovs, Ikaunieks, Gutkovskis. Subs: Ozols, Matrevics, Jagodinskis, Sliede, Isajevs, Daskevics, Vapne, Sits, Krollis, Melniks, Tonisevs.

Referee: Orel Grinfeeld (Israel)

We’ve all been there: we’re sat on the bus and someone bigger, harder and braver takes unlikely and unreciprocated interest in at what we are looking. A question that is easily answered on the facts, but in practice offers no correct reply beyond absorbing pain.

Such is managing head-coaching England’s men. If you lose, you are treated badly, whereas if you win, you are also treated badly – just ask Alf Ramsey.

And games like tonight’s are an intensified version of the same. Draw or lose and it’s the worst embarrassment since that time in reception when you got changed for your first PE lesson and pulled down your pants as well as your trousers (OK, that was me, not Thomas Tuchel); win narrowly and you’re a joyless void who doesn’t know what he’s doing; win well and anyone could’ve done it.

It’s more or less impossible for England not to qualify for the World Cup and, when they get there, chances they’ll be in a group with teams who are vastly inferior. Which means the success of otherwise of Tuchel’s tenure rests on a maximum of four matches – and if he has Gareth Southgate’s luck of the draw, one or two.

That’s a lot for any manager head coach to assimilate, especially when also dealing with the additional stresses of the job: the press, the players, the fans, the suits. Tuchel, though, thinks he can do it and so he should. A strong man-manager with tactical smarts, he won an unlikely Champions League with Chelsea and has also handled Bayern’s backroom and Paris’ petrolheads; similar was not so of Roy Hodgson, nor Sam Allardyce, nor Gareth Southgate.

Yet it was of Fabio Capello. And for that reason, it remains relevant that, when we’re on the bus and someone bigger, harder and braver takes unlikely and unreciprocated interest in at what we are looking, though there is no correct reply beyond absorbing pain, there is a correct response: run away as quickly as your little legs will carry you.

Kick-off: 7.45pm GMT