England hits Serbia 5-0 to end at the FIFA World Cup 2026 spot

England took a huge step in the direction of automatic qualification for the FIFA World Cup 2026, where Captain Harry Kane released the way for a crushing 5-0 win away to main group K Rival Serbia on Tuesday.

While Kane yielded its record-expanding 74th England goal, Noni Madueke, Ezri Konsa and Marc Guehi all scored their first senior international goals in a emphatic victory.

England has a maximum of 15 points from five games and could seal the automatic qualification as a group winner next month.

Criticized for a difficult home defeat of Andorra on Saturday, England produced its best performance under head coach Thomas Tuchel to punish a Timid Serbia display.

After a quiet start against a host side that was camping in his own half, Kane led his team at the front of Declan Rice’s Corner in the 33rd minute, and shortly thereafter Madueke made it 2-0 after racing on a smart film by Morgan Rogers.

Seven minutes after the break it was Konsa’s turn to open his England account and put the visitor in Cruise Control with a finish from close by after a VAR check.

The night of Serbia went from bad to worse when Nikola Milenkovic was sent away in the 73rd minute for an error on Kane, and Guehi arrived from Rice’s resulting free kick to bring the score to 4-0.

Read also | Portugal sees Hungary Challenge in FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifications

Replacement Marcus Rashford closed it with a late penalty after an error on Ollie Watkins while the fans of England celebrated in an empty stadium.

England leads the group with seven points from Albania, with the first defeat of Serbia in the group that leaves it on seven points on seven points with a match in hand.

The group winner is eligible for next year’s final with second place in the play-offs.

«I am more than happy for the team and for the staff,» Tuchel said ITV Sport.

«We had an excellent week from start to finish and we have just proven what I saw in this camp every day. We played with a lot of intensity and it was teamwork in his purest form,» he added.

There was very little Jeopardy as soon as the England qualification group had been drawn, and it makes the qualification for next year’s final out as a walk in the park.

That it will be in the showpiece was almost a given, but there have been doubts about the progress of England since Tuchel took over from Gareth Southgate.

Some of the performances under the German former Chelsea and Bayern Munich -coach’s Watch have been sufficient. But on Tuesday it made a statement against one side that narrowly beat 1-0 in last year’s European championship.

Published on September 10, 2025