Latvia 0-5 England
by Layth Yousif 
at Daugava Stadium

ON A COLD, wet and windy evening a few miles from the Baltic Sea, in a city with an evocative, cobblestone-lined old town, sprinkled with all manner of beguiling medieval buildings, onion-domed tall towers and churches, England qualified for the 2026 World Cup.

Facing a side mired 137th in global rankings — who had lost their previous 14 matches against top 10 teams in a miserable run stretching back to 2004 — the burgundy strips of the limited home side were no match for their Premier League opposition. 

Thomas Tuchel’s fluent side posting their fifth successive victory, and sixth from six games in their group, to become the first European team to confirm passage to next summer’s tournament, with two games to spare.

In front of 10,404 fans at an autumnally tinged tree-lined, three-stand lined, Daugava Stadium — where one side of the ground lacked a stand, but appeared none the worse for it aesthetically — a strike from Anthony Gordon, a first-half brace from Harry Kane, Maksims Tonisevs’s own goal, and a late Eberechie Eze effort eased England to a comfortable victory.

Such were the elements this week, Latvia coach Paolo Nicolato was asked, cricket-style, what he would do if his side won the toss. The question coming after windy conditions blighted Latvia’s 2-2 draw with Andorra at the weekend.

In truth, the challenging weather made no difference, as the visitors, fresh from sweeping aside Wales in 20 minutes at Wembley last Thursday — at a less than vociferous Wembley Stadium, as Tuchel testily pointed out after the match — won through to their 17th appearance at the World Cup, 76 years after their first in Brazil in 1950.

After dominating the opening stages, England went ahead on 26 minutes. The lively Gordon cutting inside from the left flank, to fire the ball, right-footed, low into the far corner to make it 1-0.

Cue the visiting support ironically singing: “Are we loud enough for you?”, “1-0 To The Library,” and “1-0 and we still don’t sing,” in a testy response to Tuchel, the observations clearly touching a nerve. 

The songs followed on from their initial response moments after kick-off, when the 2,000 travelling England fans pointedly chorused: “We’ll sing when we want.”

However, it was good to note Tuchel took it with a smile after the match, saying: “I got a bit of stick in the first half, so fair enough. I take it in good humour. I accept it.

“They had a reason from my last comments, and I guess that’s fair enough.

“I found it quite creative. It made me smile, and this is how it has to be. It’s British humour and I surely can take it. No harm done.”

England were powerfully assertive in the Latvian capital.

With Kane restored to the side, after Tuchel made two changes, selecting the Bayern Munich striker in his rightful place ahead of the injured Ollie Watkins — with Myles Lewis-Skelly swapped for the redoubtable Marc Guehi — the side had excellent balance.

After four impressive starts that have already installed Elliot Anderson as the side’s No6, the 22-year-old, Whitely Bay-born midfielder angled a shot wide of Krisjanis Zviedris’s far post on 42 minutes. 

While the ball fizzed narrowly past the woodwork, what is apparent is that Tuchel sees the Nottingham Forest player as a certain starter. Meaning, with the ever-excellent Declan Rice at No8, if the absent Jude Bellingham is to force his way back into the team — or squad for that matter — it has to be as a No10.

As for the pre-match discussions about Kane’s value to Tuchel’s engaging side, they were assuaged when the perennially evergreen captain grabbed his first of the evening 60 seconds later, with his 75th goal for England after a fine drive from 22 yards out, winning possession after Latvia sloppily attempted to play out for the back.

The in-form Kane’s 76th international goal was to follow shortly afterwards, when VAR adjudged the Bundesliga’s top scorer to have had his shirt pulled in the box. Up stepped the prolific 32-year-old, with his now customary stutter, to send the increasingly beleaguered Zviedris the wrong way, to net his 24th England penalty from 28 attempts.

“Harry is ready to put in the intensity and the shift that is needed,” purred Tuchel after the match, adding: “It is a pleasure to have him. 

”He is in excellent shape physically, mentally, in top form, top shape. So everything is fine,” he said in what could also be seen as a jibe at the missing Bellingham — who posted on his Instagram feed after the match: ”That’s life.”

As the cold Baltic rain started to fall once more right on half-time, the England fans at the other end could start dreaming of a trip to North America for the global jamboree next summer.

Yet, while thoughts could have understandably turned to the World Cup among the players, the alert Ezri Konsa showed superb pace and technique to rob the racing Vladislavs Gutkovskis — who had at least a yard head start — with a perfectly timed challenge deep in his own box after the interval, that was positively Bobby Moore-esque.

Tonisevs’s own goal on the hour mark made it 4-0, as Rice, Saka and Morgan Rodgers were withdrawn in favour of Jordan Henderson, Jarrod Bowen and Eze.

The latter made it 5-0 with four minutes remaining, as the clock moved towards midnight at the city’s athletics track-lined stadium, after an assist by Bowen, as England rounded off a memorable evening in the Baltics, to make it 37 World Cup qualifiers without defeat, in a run stretching back to 2009.

Next up for England in November are the dead rubbers of Serbia at Wembley, and Albania in Tirana, with all eyes on Tuchel’s squad selection, in the continuing absence of Real Madrid’s Bellingham so far this season.