England vs. Albania: WCQ Match Preview, Odds & Predictions

England will host Albania on Friday night to kick off Group K, the first round of their qualification for the 2026 World Cup.

In the first match as manager of the team that finished second at the European Championship last year, Thomas Tuchel will lead the Three Lions out at Wembley.

Previous Matches and Head-to-head

After a successful UEFA Nations League campaign, England will begin 2025 by competing in their first World Cup qualifier, which will take place in North America.

From now until November, there are five international windows full of fixtures. The top two teams from each of the twelve groups will go to the finals without any more qualification, while the teams in second and third place will have to go through the playoffs.

With two games under Tuchel's tutelage now underway, England—one of the world's favorite teams—will want to take command of Group K this month. On Friday, they will host Albania, and three days later, they will welcome Latvia to London.

Due in large part to Tuchel's access to a plethora of talent and in part to their outstanding record in route to World Cups recently, the Three Lions are anticipated to finish top in a group that also includes Serbia and Andorra.

England has the longest current streak of any European country, staying undefeated over their past 31 qualifiers for FIFA's top championship and winning 23 times.  Germany in October 2000, in the last game at the old Wembley Stadium, was the only time they had lost their opening match of a season.

In addition, the 1966 world champions had a perfect record against Albania, winning all six of their prior encounters. Their only other 100% records are against relative weaklings like San Marino (eight wins out of nine games), Malta (seven), and Luxembourg (nine victories out of nine games).

In those six matches, Albania managed only one goal; their most recent loss was a 5-0 thrashing in Qatar 2022 qualifying when Harry Kane scored a hat trick.

Despite England's Nations League elevation to the top level, Sylvinho's team dropped to League C after a November loss to Ukraine.

In a very competitive group, Albania's already low promotion chances were dashed on the last day of play, and their 2-1 loss meant they were relegated instead.

However, they may now begin the process of qualifying for the World Cup all over again, hoping to finally make their debut at the global championships.

The Kuqezinjte have made it to the Euros twice in the previous three years, but they still haven't fulfilled their ambition. This summer, they'll focus on finishing in the top two in Group K.

Albania may not be expecting much from their opening, but Sunday's encounter against Andorra will be a must-win since they have never won a competitive match against a team in the top 10 of FIFA's global rankings (17 of 19 previous tries).

England x Albania Team News

Some unexpected names were on Thomas Tuchel's first England roster, including Dan Burn, the hero of Newcastle United's EFL Cup final, and Jordan Henderson, an Ajax midfielder.

As ever, the initial list has already been altered, as Cole Palmer withdrew to undergo further assessment on the injury he sustained before Chelsea's recent Premier League loss to Arsenal; belatedly rewarded for some fine form this season, Morgan Gibbs-White is his replacement.

While it remains to be seen how Tuchel will set his side up, Jordan Pickford is sure to earn his 74th cap in goal, and it has been confirmed that Harry Kane will continue as captain.

Since Kane made his first appearance in World Cup qualifiers back in September 2016, only Robert Lewandowski (25) and Cristiano Ronaldo (21) have scored more goals in European qualifying (17 in 14 matches).  The Bayern Munich striker has also been directly involved in six goals in two games against Albania.

Meanwhile, the visitors are skippered by Atalanta BC defender Berat Djimsiti, one of seven Italy-based players in Sylvinho's 26-man squad.

Another Serie A veteran, Lazio's Elseid Hysaj, is sidelined by injury, alongside Mario Mitaj of Al-Ittihad, who has just undergone groin surgery.

First-choice strikers Armando Broja and Rey Manaj were both unavailable in November, but both return to national-team duty this month and will compete to start up front.

Our Predictions

England to win & Over 2.5 goals @ 1.57 on Sky247.ng

Given their status as regulars in the latter part of major tournaments, an experienced England squad is ultimately expected to contend for World Cup glory.

As such, they should sweep aside Albania on home turf, putting Thomas Tuchel alongside the nation's last 10 permanent managers, all of whom won their first game as Three Lions boss.

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