Today the matches of the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup in the European zone start, sportal.bg. The teams that do not play in the playoffs in the League of Nations will take part in the first matches.
In one of today's matches, England hosts Albania in a match from Group “K”. This will be the debut for the new coach of the “Three Lions” Thomas Tuchel. The last 10 permanent coaches of the team have debuted with a victory and it would be a big surprise if this does not happen again.
After losing the Euro 2024 final last summer, the English had a successful campaign in the Nations League and returned to League “A”. They made one mistake - a home loss to Greece, but then compensated with a 3-0 victory in Athens. Albania has never won an official match against a country in the top 10 of the FIFA world rankings (2 draws and 17 losses).
Tuchel surprised with some selection decisions. He returned to the team Marcus Rashford and Jordan Henderson, and the former Liverpool midfielder is even expected to play a key role in the first matches under the German. Newcastle defender Dan Byrne, who is 32 years old, received his first call-up to the national team. Arsenal left-back Miles Lewis-Skelly is also in the team for the first time. The 18-year-old talent made his debut for the “Gunners” just six months ago.
The group England is in does not look very difficult. Serbia seems to be the most serious opponent. Stojkovic's team begins its participation in the qualifiers in June, as this month it plays a play-off in the League of Nations against Austria. The other teams in the group are Latvia and Andorra, who face each other today.
In Group “H” Romania hosts Bosnia and Herzegovina. Our northern neighbors had an excellent campaign in the League of Nations and recorded six consecutive victories, which promoted them to League “B”. The other match in this group is between Cyprus and San Marino, while favourites Austria will join in June.
The third group, from which there are matches today, is “G”. In it, Poland hosts Lithuania, and Malta hosts Finland. The last participant in this group is still unclear. It will be the loser of the Nations League battle between Spain and the Netherlands.