England narrowly defeated Andorra 1-0, maintaining their flawless record in the 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign.
The first half of the match was notably unimpressive, culminating in the Three Lions being met with jeers and whistles as they headed to the dressing room.
Ultimately, a close-range finish from Harry Kane was sufficient to secure the win for Thomas Tuchel`s side in the match played in Barcelona.
Match Result
- RESULT: Andorra 0-1 England
Key Moments & Match Flow
Harry Kane finally broke the deadlock around five minutes into the second half. He converted Noni Madueke`s low cross at the back post, scoring his 72nd goal for England. Despite the goal, the game`s tempo and flair did not significantly improve.
At fulltime, the score remained 1-0 to England. Andorra had a late opportunity, but couldn`t capitalize. England themselves missed a chance to extend their lead in the final seconds when Madueke`s shot was saved. Thomas Tuchel becomes the first England manager to begin his tenure with three wins and no goals conceded, although the performance against the 173rd-ranked team in the world was far from convincing.
Post-Match Reaction
England manager Thomas Tuchel speaking to ITV: “I am not happy with the performance. We started well for the first 20-25 minutes, created chances, then lost momentum completely… it was not good enough in terms of urgency… it’s not what we expect. The energy and determination weren`t there… I was most worried in the last 20 minutes because I did not like the attitude… the lack of urgency… We will let them know tomorrow.” Tuchel praised Noni Madueke as “the most dangerous” player and “a constant threat”.
England captain Harry Kane speaking to ITV: “It’s one of those games. We can play better, it wasn’t our greatest performance, but we can learn. It was very hot and the pitch was dry… We had good spells but couldn’t consistently attack. We take the three points and move on. We probably weren’t good enough on the ball – we kept giving it away… Noni Madueke was a constant threat today and got the assist. We need more of that quality… The June camp after a long season is never easy, but we got what we needed.”
Roy Keane speaking on ITV: “When I see players getting bored, which I saw in the last half an hour, I don`t like to see that. Go and get some more goals. They have to impress the manager, he`s still new… You can`t keep looking to Kane, the other attacking players have to have an impact.”
Statistics Overview
Fulltime Match Stats
- Possession – Andorra 17% – 83% England
- Shots – Andorra 4 – 20 England
- Corners – Andorra 0 – 12 England
- Fouls – Andorra 13 – 9 England
- Yellow cards – Andorra 0 – 0 England
- Red cards – Andorra 0 – 0 England
Key Statistics
England has scored in each of their last 20 World Cup Qualifying matches, totalling 60 goals in that period. They have also gone 551 minutes without conceding a goal, though this streak is seen by some as more indicative of the opposition`s weakness than England`s defensive strength.
Harry Kane`s winning goal marked his 450th senior career goal across club and country.
Group K Standings (After Matchday 3)
- England – 3 games, 9 points
- Albania – 2 games, 3 points
- Latvia – 2 games, 3 points
- Serbia – 0 games, 0 points (0 GD)
- Andorra – 3 games, 0 points (-5 GD)
