Explained: How England can secure their place at the 2026 World Cup against Latvia

England are just one win away from qualifying after Serbia lost 1-0 to Albania on Saturday. The Three Lions top group K with 15 points from five matches and +13 goal difference, while Albania have 11 points from six matches and +3 goal difference.

Considering the teams involved in the group, it was always likely to be a fairly straightforward process for England to qualify. But to do it with matches to spare and therefore give Thomas Tuchel even more chance to give opportunities to fairly untested players at international level, this is just what the German will have aimed for when he began his term as manager at the beginning of the year.

The Three Lions could now be just days away from securing their place in the United States, Canada and Mexico for next summer, taking the pressure off the November international break as Tuchel’s side hope to see out the qualifying campaign in style.

England swept aside Latvia 3-0 at Wembley back in March, as Reece James and Harry Kane got on the scoresheet before Eberechi Eze scored his first international goal late on to secure a confident victory.

That was in fact the very first meeting of the two sides, with England therefore boasting an immaculate record against their opponents on Tuesday. The match will be the Three Lions’ first-ever encounter to take place on Latvian soil.

England will have taken heart from an emphatic first-half performance against Wales on Thursday, as Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins and Bukayo Saka scored in a 3-0 victory against their Welsh neighbours. Interestingly, the match was the first time an England side had named a starting XI without a single player from any of Manchester United, Chelsea or Liverpool since 1992.

Tuchel said of England's previous encounter with Latvia in March: "It wasn't an easy match. We had to unlock it. I saw a lot of good things. We have a good result, another clean sheet, we created a lot of chances from set-pieces. We struggled a little bit until the goal but you saw also what the goal gave us – a lot of freedom, a little bit of excitement and everything felt a little bit easier.

"We needed a free-kick to unlock it but in general, I'm happy with the attitude and the energy and desire to do the stuff that we want and we will get there. The second goal was well-worked because we had some acceleration from a position they didn't expect it. We struggled a little bit until the goal but you saw also what the goal gave us – a lot of freedom, a little bit of excitement and everything felt a little bit easier."

The Three Lions will head to Latvia looking to seal the deal and secure qualification, with the hope of maintaining their perfect record throughout qualifying in the process.

While we still have little idea what Tuchel’s England side will look like come next summer – the likes of Jude Bellingham, Cole Palmer and Trent Alexander-Arnold are yet to return to contention, while other big-name stars such as Jack Grealish and Phil Foden will look for recalls. But Tuchel has expressed his faith in the current squad and so those who take to the field on Tuesday and in November will hope to put down a marker to ensure they remain at the forefront of the manager’s thinking come the set of friendlies in March ahead of the finals. A point suggested by Rogers when he insisted his role in the side is not yet secure.

If England secure qualification against Latvia, their thinking will switch to the draw for the World Cup finals, which will take place on 5 December at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.