Lewis-Skelly goal launches Tuchel reign from ‘brilliant’ Bellingham pass



Lewis-Skelly goal launches Tuchel reign from ‘brilliant’ Bellingham pass

Myles Lewis-Skelly needed 20 minutes of his England debut to hit the first goal of manager Thomas Tuchel’s reign and open the scoring against Albania at Wembley Stadium.

Real Madrid attacker Jude Bellingham’s threaded pass sent 18-year-old Arsenal full-back Lewis-Skelly through inside the box, cutting out three visiting defenders and allowing the recipient to hold off Jasir Asani and coolly slot in.

“That’s how you beat a low block – you play a brilliant ball,” former Three Lions defender Lee Dixon told ITV Football.

“Just look at (Lewis-Skelly) – he’s ready to go. He leans into Asani – ‘get out of my way’. A fantastic run and a brilliant ball. It’s a big night for him, but the composure and the finish – he’s got a big future.”

Myles Lewis-Skelly goals, stats

Arsenal academy product Lewis-Skelly only made his debut for his club on September 22, coming on as a substitute in their 2-2 draw at Manchester City.

He was playing for England Under-19s in November but has firmly established himself in Arsenal’s first team, scoring his first goal for them in a 5-1 home win over City on February 2.

Lewis-Skelly has also faced a steep learning curve, including two red cards in four Premier League games in January and February.

The first of those, during the first half of a 1-0 win over Wolves, was later rescinded on appeal, and Lewis-Skelly was substituted before the break in Arsenal’s 7-1 win at PSV on March 4 because he had been booked and gone close to a red card.

Manager Mikel Arteta voiced his faith afterwards in the prodigy, who played throughout Arsenal’s 2-2 home draw in the second leg of the round of 16 tie.

England v Albania: Lewis-Skelly debut

After taking over on January 1, Champions League winner Tuchel revealed several surprises when he selected his first squad in mid-March.

Lewis-Skelly and Newcastle defender Dan Burn made their bows against Albania, while forward Marcus Rashford, who is on loan at Aston Villa from Manchester United, made his first international start since November 2023 after a first call-up in almost a year.

Tuchel’s mission to win the 2026 Fifa World Cup began with the visit of the side ranked 65th in Fifa’s rankings in the first of eight qualifiers within eight months in 2025.

The Three Lions are aiming to qualify for a seventh consecutive edition of the tournament, which will be held in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Ranked fourth in the Fifa rankings before their qualifying campaign began, England’s best run since they failed to reach the finals in 1994 has been a fourth-placed finish in 2018.

England World Cup qualifiers

As well as Albania, England’s Group K rivals comprise Latvia, Andorra and Serbia. Of those opponents, Serbia’s standing of 32 at the start of qualifying made them by far the highest-ranked team Tuchel’s side will face.

Serbia proved tricky opponents at Euro 2024with only a Jude Bellingham goal separating the teams in their opener in Germany.

Including games as Yugoslavia and Serbia & Montenegro, Dragan Stojkovic’s nation have lost their last five meetings with England, although they held an impressive record of one defeat in their last 21 World Cup qualifying matches before the group began, winning 14 and drawing six.

Albania lost 5-0 at Wembley when they last met England in November 2021, including a first-half Harry Kane hat-trick.

Albania are one of five nations England have faced more than six times and won against every time, alongside Luxembourg (9), San Marino (8), Malta (7) and Andorra (6).

Latvia are ranked 140th and have never played England before, while Andorra are 171st and have lost all six of the encounters between the countries by an aggregate score of 25-0.

Ben Chilwell, Bukayo Saka, Tammy Abraham, James Ward-Prowse and Jack Grealish scored when England won 5-0 in Andorra in October 21.

England football team World Cup qualifying fixtures

All fixtures start at 19:45 GMT unless otherwise stated.

Monday, March 24: England v Latvia
Saturday, June 7: Andorra v England (17:00)
Saturday, September 6: England v Andorra (17:00)
Tuesday, September 9: Serbia v England
Tuesday, October 14: Latvia v England
Thursday, November 13: England v Serbia
Sunday, November 16: An Albania (17:00)

England games: What happens if Three Lions top group?

The top team from each of the 12 European Qualifier groups proceeds automatically to the finals, which will be expanded to 48 teams.

Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Portugal, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, France and Croatia are among the other favourites to win their groups.

What happens if England finish second in World Cup qualifiers?

England will be eliminated if they finish third or below and enter the play-offs between March 26-31 2026 if they come second.

The 12 runners-up in each group will join four Nations League teams in the play-offs, which will be drawn from pots based on teams’ records during the campaign. The games will comprise single-leg semi-finals and finals.

The draw for the World Cup finals will take place in December 2025. The tournament runs from June 11 until July 19 2026.





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