England's World Cup line up is starting to take shape - but could Dean Henderson force his way in? Winners and losers as goalkeeper gives Thomas Tuchel food for thought with outstanding Albania display

Tuchel might be a gun for hire from an England perspective, and yet he has hit the target with every single one of his shots. The German has only been in the job for 11 months, working with the players for eight of those, but he has sure left his mark on the team. Tuchel is the first England coach to oversee a perfect World Cup qualifying campaign while his team are the first side from any continent to have played at least six games and won them all without conceding a goal.

The coach decided to experiment by making seven changes to the team that had beaten Serbia, but he was still deadly serious about winning the game and called on his most trusted marksmen from the bench to complete the job. 

The big question about whether England can beat the best sides in the world will remain unanswered until the World Cup kicks-off, quite possibly until the quarter-finals, and cynics will point to the fact that Fabio Capello had a tremendous record in qualifying for the 2010 tournament, only to disappoint when it mattered.

But England's hunger to win Sunday's game in the closing stages is proof that Tuchel has stamped his ultra-demanding personality on the team, and it is hard to not be excited about the culture he has built in his short time in charge.

Eberechi Eze had earned his place in the starting line-up with his tremendous strike against Serbia after coming off the bench, but his performance against Albania underlined the sense that he is much more effective as a substitute than as a starter. Eze struggled to create much danger in the first half, and when England's best chance of the game fell to him shortly into the second period after a brilliant ball from Bellingham, he completely blew it as couldn't get the ball out of his feet and scuffed it straight at goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha.

Eze was taken off for his Arsenal team-mate Saka shortly after the hour-mark, making it the third consecutive England start in which he has failed to score or provide an assist. Contrast that with him scoring in his last three matches for his country as a substitute, against Serbia and in both games against Latvia.

Being seen as an effective finisher is no bad thing and it would be no surprise to see Eze have a big impact at the World Cup from the bench. Still, no player likes to be known solely as a super-sub, and Eze passed up a good opportunity here to try and change that reputation.

Kane has a remarkable ability to sail through a match without doing very much at all and then go on to decide it with his killer instinct. This was a textbook example of his knack to have the final say without warning. Before he scored the opening goal, Kane had not had any shots on goal or created any chances for his team-mates. Any other player would have been ripe for substitution.

But Tuchel knows Kane's ability to find the net as well as anyone and his decision to leave the striker on was vindicated when he knocked in Saka's corner and then glanced in Rashford's wonderful delivery. Kane's brace took him on to nine goals in nine matches under Tuchel, having scored in six of the eight qualifiers.

Kane's status as England captain and main man was called into question after his hugely disappointing displays at Euro 2024, but Tuchel chose to make the striker the fulcrum of his team and is being handsomely rewarded for doing so. "The work ethic, the attitude is just outstanding," Tuchel said of Kane. "I almost have no words - he is invested in everything we do. He is a leader and it speaks for itself."

When it comes to scoring in qualifying for World Cups and European Championships, no one can compete with Kane, who has scored 40 goals since 2019. The second-highest scorer in that period is Cristiano Ronaldo on 32.

While Tuchel has tried to show that no player is undroppable, Declan Rice, Kane and Jordan Pickford are practically assured of their place in the starting line-up when England kick off their World Cup campaign next June. Henderson, then, has the misfortune to be vying for one of those spots, competing with a player who has been England's No.1 since the 2018 World Cup and has proven to be a formidable force in penalty shootouts. 

But the Crystal Palace goalkeeper did make the most of a rare starting opportunity, delivering a flawless display between the sticks. Henderson made a top-draw save to thwart Albania's main dangerman Arber Hoxha before making a bold yet correct move to charge out of his area and swipe the ball from the feet of Qazim Laci. He would almost certainly have been sent off had he got there a second late, but his timing was spot on and he made sure England kept that coveted eighth consecutive clean sheet in qualifying.

"I didn't want to be the one that stepped in and conceded," he said. "Jordan has been excellent. He has had the shirt for a long time now, he has been putting in good performances, which makes it hard to break through." That might be true, but at least Henderson has demonstrated to Tuchel that he is his man should he start to ever question Pickford.

Morgan Rogers was the standout England player from their October games against Wales and Latvia, capitalising on Bellingham's absence while making a surprise case to be picked ahead of the Real Madrid superstar. But once Bellingham was brought back into the fold after fully recovering from shoulder surgery, Rogers was under big pressure to have another massive camp. To tell the truth, he couldn't follow it up.

Tuchel warned before the Serbia game that Rogers and Bellingham could not play together, making it clear it was one or the other. Rogers got the nod at Wembley but produced an underwhelming display as his team-mates failed to spot his runs in behind, and he was soon replaced by Bellingham in the 65th minute.

Rogers was then left out of the starting line-up on Sunday, and got just six minutes plus added time to show what he is made of. Competing with Bellingham for a position is a daunting prospect and it feels like Rogers has slipped down the pecking order again after failing to build on the momentum from last month.

When Rashford was recalled to the England squad by Tuchel in March, many people expected his return to be short-lived. It is to the forward's credit, then, that he is not only still in the picture but one of the team's most reliable attacking players. Rashford started bothering Albania's right flank as soon as he entered the pitch and did not take long to produce a moment of brilliance, cutting inside and bending the ball on to the head of England's most deadly player, Kane, for Rashford's 15th goal contribution (eight goals and seven assists) for club and country since the season began, and his seventh in as many matches. 

The striker's career was in the doldrums 11 months ago after being bombed out of the Manchester United squad by Ruben Amorim. but he has rebuilt it in the most impressive way imaginable, turning into a crucial player for Barcelona and a deadly weapon for his country.