London: A glorious free-kick from Reece James set England en route to a comfortable 3-0 victory over Latvia in the UEFA qualifying for the FIFA World Cup 2026.
An inch perfect free kick from James, a composed finish from captain Harry Kane and Eberechi Eze’s deflected effort secured all three points to put England top of their World Cup qualifying group.
England monopolised possession from the outset, but Latvia packed their penalty area and limited their opponents to shooting from examining angles or distance. Reece James made the breakthrough in spectacular fashion, meshing pace and curl to send a free-kick into the top corner.
Declan Rice laid the ball across goal for Harry Kane to make it two, before substitute Eberechi Eze jinking his way into a shooting position and sealed victory.
Thomas Tuchel’s charges now sit on maximum points from two games, while Paolo Nicolato’s team remain on three.
“The way Reece hits the ball has a lot of topspin. The ball was quite far out, but I watched it back there and it had incredible precision, power and he just gets that lift on the ball. What a fantastic goal. We can be pleased with two wins and two clean sheets as well,” said Kane.
On the other hand, Karol Swiderski’s double sunk Malta 2-0 and kept Poland perfect in the FIFA 26 qualofiers.
Michal Probierz left Robert Lewandowski, who was carrying a knock, on the bench and in his absence Poland almost fell behind when Ilyas Chouraef’s long-distance forced Lukasz Skorupski into a smart save.
The Poles quickly began to take control, however, and went ahead following a succession of Maltese mistakes, Karol Swiderski capitalising for a tap-in. Jakub Moder then set up Swiderski to double the lead, FIFA reports.
Malta failed to get going in Warsaw and had Chouaref sent off late on. Emilio De Leo’s charges are pointless from two outings, while Probierz’s men have two wins in the bank.
Elsewhere, Albania made light work of Andorra to collect heir first win in qualifying with a commanding effort in Tirana. The Red and Blacks now have three points from two matches, while the visitors remain on the hunt for their first result.
Albania wasted no time in getting on the score-sheet, with Rey Manaj rising and turning in a header off a picture-perfect free-kick from Kristjan Asllani. Manaj was back at it just ten minutes later, this time curling home a cutback from Armando Broja. The two-goal cushion allowed the hosts to cruise the rest of the way, with Myrto Uzuni capping the festivities with a stoppage-time goal.
(IANS)
