Albania v England: World Cup 2026 qualifying – live

4.57pm GMT A duet of well-dressed blokes with microphones lead us (well, not me) in renditions of both anthems. Classy. 4.55pm GMT Berat Djimsiti and Harry Kane head out with their pennants. Kick-off in England’s final game of 2025 is moments away. 4.52pm GMT Played 7, won 7, conceded 0. Easy as you like for England so far in qualifying. Beyond this group, they’ve now kept nine consecutive clean sheets in competitive matches – only two teams have done that in Europe before. Spain are the only other team in European qualifying yet to concede a goal. For what it’s worth, Liechtenstein are the only team yet to score. 4.47pm GMT Sylvinho has done a pretty fine job at Albania since taking over as manager in 2023. They qualified for Euro 2024 as group winners and gave Spain, Italy and Croatia a good run for their money at the finals despite exiting in the group. Now they are two games away from a first World Cup having confirmed their place in March’s Uefa playoffs by finishing second behind England in this group. A lot of their squad play in Italy but names familiar to British viewers include Nedim Bajrami of Rangers and the former Brentford goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha. Burnley’s Armando Broja, who turned down an England Under-21 call-up in 2019, is on the bench. 4.32pm GMT Thomas Tuchel is hoping nobody does a Wayne Rooney today (or indeed a Cristiano Ronaldo) and gets themselves sent off and a suspension for the tournament next summer. No red cards please. We are through and we are in a position with last man then the player holds the shirt he gets the red card. If there’s a doubt then it would be smarter not to do it. If he goes in the last man example and if we can avoid it no red card of course. But I don’t want to make it too big a subject because then you have a cloud above you. But if you have the choice don’t do it. 4.27pm GMT Harry Kane could make a bit of history today. He’s on 76 goals for England and will draw level with Pelé’s total for Brazil if he scores today. Here’s a look at how the Bayern Munich striker compares to some of the (selected) greats at international level: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) 143 goals Lionel Messi (Argentina) 115 Pelé (Brazil) 77 Harry Kane (England) 76 Gerd Müller (West Germany) 68 Ronaldo (Brazil) 62 Diego Maradona (Argentina) 34 So, what about the Ballon d’Or, Harry? David Hytner heard his answer to that question this week: I could score 100 goals this season, but if I don’t win the Champions League or the World Cup, you’re probably not going to win the Ballon d’Or. It’s the same with Haaland, it’s the same with any player. You have to be winning those major trophies. We’re in great shape at Bayern Munich so that maybe makes the odds a little bit more in my favour. Same with England. Hopefully, if things go my way for club and country then I’m definitely going to be in the conversation for a trophy like the Ballon d’Or. Related: Harry Kane closes on Pelé’s record but captain always puts England first 4.17pm GMT In other World Cup qualifying news, Portugal have joined England and friends at next summer’s finals after a 9-1 thumping of poor Armenia – without the suspended Cristiano Ronaldo. Hint hint. Bruno Fernandes and João Neves got hat-tricks. And the Republic of Ireland have snuck into the playoffs at the last! Troy Parrott completed his hat-trick with a 96th-minute winner to deny Hungary in Budapest this afternoon. Related: Parrott hat-trick sickens Hungary as Ireland grab World Cup playoff spot in wild win Updated at 4.47pm GMT 4.05pm GMT Team news Jude Bellingham is among seven changes to the England team that beat Serbia on Thursday. Adam Wharton makes his first senior start in midfield alongside Bellingham and Declan Rice. Dean Henderson replaces Jordan Pickford in goal, while Jarell Quansah makes his debut at right-back, with Dan Burn partnering John Stones in the centre of defence. Eberechi Eze and Jarrod Bowen play either side of Harry Kane in attack. Alex Scott could earn his first cap off the bench. Confirmed lineups Albania (4-3-3): Strakosha; Hysaj, Ismajli, Djimsiti, Aliji; Laci, Asllani, Ramadani; Bajrami, Uzuni, Hoxha.Subs: Dajsinani, Simoni, Balliu, Cake, Ajeti, Manaj, Asani, Tuci, Pajaziti, Berisha, Daku, Broja. England (4-3-3): Henderson; Quansah, Stones, Burn, O’Reilly; Rice, Wharton, Bellingham; Bowen, Kane, Eze.Subs: Pickford, Trafford, James, Chalobah, Spence, Henderson, Anderson, Scott, Rogers, Saka, Foden, Rashford. 4.00pm GMT Preamble Well, you could call this a dead rubber. England sealed their place at next summer’s World Cup a whole month ago. Albania themselves secured a spot in March’s playoffs with a win against Andorra on Thursday. But with the World Cup just seven months and a few games away, there is no such thing as a dead rubber for the England players looking to convince Thomas Tuchel that they deserve a seat on his plane to North America. Not even the likes of Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden can be sure of a place in the squad until it is named in May. England have won on all three of their previous trips to Tirana, the latest being a 2-0 victory under Gareth Southgate on the way to qualifying for the 2022 World Cup. It was lockdown. Mason Mount scored. Kalvin Phillips was in midfield. Jesse Lingard came off the bench. Those were different times. It’s a 5pm (GMT) kick-off today at the Air Albania Stadium. I’d like to hear your thoughts on how England have done in 2025 under Tuchel, how you expect them to fare at the World Cup and who you think should – or should not – be on that plane. Views from Albania are also appreciated. Get in touch via email.