Harry Kane put the seal on flawless England’s record-setting finish to their World Cup qualifying campaign with a late double in Sunday’s 2-0 win over Albania (Monday AEDT).
Kane struck twice in the closing stages as Thomas Tuchel’s made history in Tirana.
After an eighth successive Group K victory, England are the first European side to go through a World Cup qualifying campaign of at least six matches with an 100 percent record and no goals conceded.
They are the first European team to win all their World Cup qualifiers since Germany in 2018.
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England have not lost a World Cup qualifier in 39 games since 2009 when they were beaten 1-0 in Ukraine.
They scored 22 goals and allowed none in a perfect path to next year’s tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Spain, like England yet to concede a goal, and Norway have also won all their qualifiers. Both have one game left.
England’s run of 10 consecutive competitive wins without conceding a goal equals Spain’s European record.
The Three Lions also end 2025 with their highest win percentage in a calendar year since 1946 — nine victories from 10 games under Tuchel featuring only one blemish in a friendly loss to Senegal in June.
“Nice match. I love it. Today was difficult, emotional. We were full in control, then suddenly lost some control and had to overcome difficult moments,” Tuchel said.
“I felt we were invested but also it was difficult to break them down. It needed one little moment, a set piece or a moment of magic, to open the match.
“So much good stuff and quality to see the game out. Everyone is happy and they fully deserved it.”
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Tuchel started his reign with a 2-0 win against Albania in March and the same opponents book-ended a memorable first year in charge for the German.
Although England wrapped up their World Cup place in October, they followed Tuchel’s demand to stay focused, beating Serbia on Thursday and dispatching obdurate Albania.
Far sterner tests lie in in wait at the World Cup but Tuchel has recovered from a sluggish start to his reign to provide genuine belief that England can win a major trophy for the first time since 1966.
By the time they return to action with two friendlies in March, Tuchel will know who England will face at the World Cup after the draw in Washington on December 5.
Tuchel made seven changes as he brought Jude Bellingham back into the starting line-up for the first time since June after restricting him to a substitute appearance against Serbia.
Although England enjoyed over 70 percent of the possession, they found it hard to carve open Albania, on an eight-match unbeaten run that ranked as their best in 15 years.
Sylvinho’s combative side nearly snatched a shock lead when Elseid Hysaj curled just over from the edge of the area.
Left out of the October internationals, Bellingham had a point to prove to Tuchel as he fights for starting berth at the World Cup after Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers impressed in his absence.
The Real Madrid midfielder’s contribution was patchy until he drove forward to set up Jarrod Bowen for a low strike that Thomas Strakosha pushed around the post.
England’s clean-sheet run almost came to an end immediately after the interval. Dean Henderson, deputising for Jordan Pickford, flung himself to the left to parry Arber Hoxha’s stinging shot.
Henderson made an equally good save moments later, blocking Hoxha’s close-range effort after Dan Burn’s miscued pass put England in danger.
Kane said on Saturday that England want to build an NFL-style playbook to help make the most of set-pieces at the World Cup.
Fittingly, the England captain, a noted NFL fan, struck from a set-piece in the 74th minute.
Bukayo Saka’s corner was flicked into the six-yard box and Kane tapped in after Strakosha failed to gather.
The Bayern Munich striker wasn’t done yet and he netted again in the 82nd minute to make it 78 goals for England in 112 appearances.
Marcus Rashford’s cross was perfectly weighted for Kane to thump his header past Strakosha from five yards, concluding England’s campaign with a flourish.
TODAY’S EUROPEAN WORLD CUP QUALIFYING RESULTS
Group D
In Baku Azerbaijan 1 (Dadasov 4) France 3 (Mateta 17, Akliouche 30, Magomedaliyev 45-og)
In Warsaw Ukraine 2 (Zubkov 83, Hutsuliak 90+3) Iceland 0
Group F
In Porto Portugal Portugal 9 (Veiga 7, Ramos 28, Neves 30, 41, 81, Fernandes 45+3-pen, 52, 72-pen, Conceicao 90+2) Armenia 1 (Spertsyan 18)
In Budapest Hungary 2 (Lukacs 4, Varga 37) Ireland 3 (Parrott 15-pen, 80, 90+6)
Group K
In Tirana Albania 0 England 2 (Kane 74, 82)
In Leskovac Serbia 2 (Katai 49, Stankovic 60) Latvia 1 (Gutkovskis 12)
Playing later
Group I
In Milan Italy v Norway (1945)
In Chisinau Israel v Moldova (1945)
SUNDAY RESULTS
Group B
In Geneva Switzerland 4 (Embolo 13, Xhaka 60-pen, Ndoye 75, Manzambi 90+4) Sweden 1 (Nygren 33)
In Ljubljana Slovenia 0 Kosovo 2 (Asllani 6, Karnicnik 64-og)
Group C
In Athens Greece 3 (Bakasetas 7, Karetsas 57, Tzolis 63) Scotland 2 (Gannon-Doak 65, Christie 70)
In Copenhagen Denmark 2 (Damsgaard 11, Isaksen 79) Belarus 2 (Gromyko 62, Demchenko 65)
Group E
In Bursa Turkey 2 (Calhanoglu 18-pen, Chernev 83-og) Bulgaria 0
In Tbilisi Georgia 0 Spain 4 (Oyarzabal 11-pen, 63, Zubimendi 22, Torres 35)
Group H
In Limassol Cyprus 0 Austria 2 (Arnautovic 18-pen, 55)
In Zenica Bosnia 3 (Dzeko 49, Bajraktarevic 79, Tabakovic 90+3) Romania 1 (Birligea 17)
Group J
In Astana Kazakhstan 1 (Satpayev 9) Belgium 1 (Vanaken 48)
In Vaduz Liechtenstein 0 Wales 1 (James 61)