England captain Harry Kane said that his 5-0 demolition of Serbia should be the template on Tuesday in the qualification of the World Cup for how it wants to play after criticizing his start to coach Thomas Tuchel’s term of office.
England had all the qualifications of the group K who came in the match in Belgrade, but Tuchel’s tactics and team selections came in for control after difficult victories over Andorra, Albania and Latvia.
The side of Tuchel was much more impressive on Tuesday with Kane, Noni Madueke, Ezri Konsa, Marcus Rashford and Marc Guehi who all get on the score sheet.
«There has been a lot of noise on the outside, but we have been happy with what we did,» Kane told the broadcaster ITV.
Read | England hits Serbia 5-0 to end at the FIFA World Cup 2026 spot
“It has not always been easy against opposition that is in a block of 11 when we have to break them down and be patient.
«We knew that tonight would be a really big test against better opposition and better players, we said we wanted to show what we can do, especially without making the ball with the high pressure and making it difficult for them.»
England is now at a moving distance from the qualification for next year’s world cup final in North America and Kane said that it should use the victory over the Serbs as a template.
«This is the time when the competition starts, the formation and the way we play and the style will be put in stone,» he added.
“Of course there can be a few games where we have to change a bit, depending on the opposition, but we want to play our way – we want to be on the front foot and win the ball quickly and when we lose the ball, recovery well …
«You could say that today it was the perfect template and from now on we will have difficult games until the World Cup, but we will use this as a starting point and the standard is very high.»
England then faces Wales in a friendly on October 9 before taking a qualifying match five days later.
Published on September 10, 2025
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