Latvia 0-5 England: England qualify for 2026 World Cup – as it happened

10.04pm BST David Hytner was at Daugava Stadium in Riga, Latvia, and his report is in. Here it is. Congratulations to England, and thanks to you, dear reader, for joining us on the MBM. Related: Five-star England qualify for 2026 World Cup after Kane’s double sees off Latvia 10.02pm BST A beaming Thomas Tuchel speaks to ITV. “Brilliant, brilliant … such a good mood in the dressing room … it is our dream to go to America … we made it … another good performance … top result … six wins … clean sheet … very happy … we are dominant … hungry … a lot of ball wins in the opponent’s half … it’s good … we are on our way … it’s a club feel … very aggressive … a high press … very demanding … everyone needs to buy into the idea … the group is a very good group … a pleasure to coach them … it’s step by step.” As for the England fans singing “Are we loud enough for you?!” [more grinning] “I got some stick in the first half … fair enough, well done … good sense of humour … no problem … I can handle it … brilliant support from start to finish!” 9.57pm BST In tonight’s other Group K match, Serbia won 3-1 in Andorra. All of which means the table looks like this, with England now certain of finishing top. They’re the first – and currently only – European side to have made certain of their qualification. 1. England P6 W6 D0 L0 F18 A0 Pts 182. Albania P6 W3 D2 L1 F6 A3 Pts 113. Serbia P6 W3 D1 L2 F7 A7 Pts 104. Latvia P7 W1 D2 L4 F4 A13 Pts 55. Andorra P7 W0 D1 L6 F3 A15 Pts 1 England’s final fixtures next month are against Serbia (h) and Albania (a). 9.50pm BST Post-match postbag. “Mightily impressed by England this evening, albeit against weak opposition. Kane was superb. I hope some of the big guns like Madueke, Trent AA, Foden and Grealish come into the fray before the World Cup. I know Tuchel prides the team over individuals but I think the above players could come in handy” – Colum Fordham … but on the other hand … “Is it really such an alien idea to pick the players that play together well rather than pick the best individuals and mangle the team trying to fit them all in? A lot of the discussion during these couple of games has focused on Tuchel leaving out some of the bigger names and perhaps more talented players. Yet as soon as people praise this approach, in the next breath they’re pondering who will drop out to get Bellingham/Foden/Palmer back in by the time the World Cup comes round. Is it really so inconceivable that Tuchel might be serious and not just ‘sending a message’? You’d think we’d be all in favour of this approach. After all, no one was arguing that Jack Charlton or Geoff Hurst were the best players in their positions, but that team didn’t do too badly” – David Wall 9.46pm BST Harry Kane speaks to ITV. “Another tournament … we make it look easy but these games can be tough … these groups can be tough … a high level … setting a high standard … keeping the momentum we have built … the way I am seeing the passes, the runs … I’m in a good moment … qualified with two games to go is a great achievement … zero goals conceded … you want competition in every position … we have that … we have players who will be itching to get back into the squad … we need them as well … there will be a little bit of chop and change … that’s the competition … keep pushing each other … see where it takes us … I know Thomas has said the fans weren’t great … I don’t think you can question our away support ever … America is going to be a special place to play … credit to them for showing the noise.” 9.43pm BST Harry Kane might not have scored a record-equalling sixth hat-trick for England. Jimmy Greaves still on top of that particular list. But a two-goal haul isn’t to be sniffed at, and that’s now 76 goals in 110 appearances for the Bayern Munich star. It’s 24 more than Wayne Rooney, 27 more than Bobby Charlton, 28 more than Gary Lineker and 32 more than Greavsie. Meanwhile Maksims Toņiševs tonight scored the 64th own goal against England. Anthony Gordon and Eberechi Eze with the others, fine strikes both, and everyone celebrates England’s qualification for next year’s World Cup with the fans, despite the rain driving down in Riga. It’s been a good night for England, their captain, and everyone who braved the Latvian weather. 9.37pm BST FULL TIME: Latvia 0-5 England England have made it to Fifa World Cup 26 with two qualification games to spare. And in some style. 9.36pm BST 90 min +1: Kane balloons it. He’s still on five hat-tricks, alongside Gary Lineker. 9.36pm BST 90 min: Kane advances on the Latvian box and is clipped by Dašķevičs. He’ll be taking the free kick himself, because if he scores it, he’ll equal Jimmy Greaves’s record of six hat-tricks for England. 9.35pm BST 89 min: Grabovskis is making his debut for Latvia, and nearly scores with his first touch. Zelenkovs pulls back from the left for the 20-year-old debutant, who attempts to whip a shot into the bottom right. Burn blocks well, with Pickford wrong-footed. 9.32pm BST 88 min: Ikaunieks is replaced by Grabovskis. 9.31pm BST 87 min: Konsa is booked for a needlessly petulant shove on Regža. 9.31pm BST GOAL! Latvia 0-5 England (Eze 86) Bowen wins the ball in the centre circle and powers down the middle. He draws three red shirts and slips the ball to Eze on his left. Eze takes a few touches back infield before driving across Zviedris and into the bottom right. Lovely finish! Updated at 9.34pm BST 9.29pm BST 85 min: England remain patient. 9.28pm BST 83 min: Rashford wins a corner down the left. It comes to nothing. This match is petering out now … although you can be sure Kane hasn’t given up on his hat-trick dream yet. 9.27pm BST 82 min: Henderson shovels a clever pass down the right to release Bowen … but Cigaņiks reads the danger and refuses to offer Bowen a route into the box. Bowen tries to steal around him but runs slap-bang into the defender. 9.25pm BST 81 min: Ikaunieks embarks on a Power Sashay down the middle of the park. He’s got options either side, plus a pocket of space in which to take a shot, but dallies too long and eventually is dispossessed by Burn. 9.23pm BST 79 min: … and eventually Černomordijs loses his, having a nibble at Eze’s ankle out on the right. Bowen takes the free kick and curls it gently, and harmlessly, wide left. 9.22pm BST 77 min: England showcase their patience. Updated at 9.23pm BST 9.20pm BST 75 min: Bowen spins away from Cigaņiks down the right and wins another England corner. Eze pulls it back for Kane, who meets it on the edge of the box with a low first-time drive. Zviedris kicks clear to deny Kane his hat-trick. 9.18pm BST 73 min: … and here come some more. Regža and Saveļjevs come on for Gutkovskis, who did a decent job while dining on scraps up front, and Vapne. 9.16pm BST 72 min: Lewis-Skelly earns a corner down the left. Eze whips it to the near post. Ikaunieks heads clear. The substitutions have jiggered the rhythm of this match. 9.15pm BST 71 min: Gordon’s work here is done. Off he goes, as does Stones. On come Rashford and Burn. Updated at 9.21pm BST 9.14pm BST 70 min: That was Latvia’s best moment of the game, during which they went close twice. Dašķevičs making quite the instant impression. 9.14pm BST 68 min: Dašķevičs’s first act is to drive down the left. His low cross goes all the way through to Toņiševs, whose low diagonal drive whistles inches past the left-hand post. It took a little nick on the way through, and from the resulting corner, Dašķevičs takes a shot that’s parried by Pickford, then Ikaunieks tries an overhead kick from the edge of the D. Over the bar. 9.11pm BST 67 min: Bowen cuts in from the right and balloons a shot over the bar. His effort still earns the thumbs-up from his contented manager. 9.10pm BST 66 min: Latvia make their second change of the evening, Dašķevičs coming on for Varslavāns. 9.09pm BST 64 min: England paint some pretty triangles down the left. Suddenly the ball drops to Eze on the edge of the D. Eze sends a forensic drive towards the bottom left. Zviedris does well to parry. The ball flies to the left, and Gordon chases it. He’s nudged from behind by the unfortunate Toņiševs, and demands a penalty. He’s not getting one. You’ve seen them awarded for much less. Both teams can now point to one that could have been given on another day. 9.06pm BST 62 min: England smell stat-padding quantities of blood. A couple of corners come in from the left. Both cause Latvia concern. From the second one, Gordon’s close-range swivel and snapshot is blocked by the closed legs of Cigaņiks. 9.04pm BST 60 min: England make a triple change, replacing Rice, Rogers and Saka with Henderson, Eze and Bowen. 9.04pm BST GOAL! Latvia 0-4 England (Toņiševs og 58) Spence crosses. A rabona, for goodness sake. Zviedris flaps it clear. England come again. Spence crosses once again, in a more conventional style this time. Zviedris flaps again, but only towards his own man Toņiševs, who, wrong-footed, pings the ball into his own net. Updated at 9.08pm BST 9.02pm BST 57 min: Rice has the chance to release his Arsenal team-mate Lewis-Skelly down the left, but hesitates, then telegraphs the pass, and Toņiševs is able to intercept and whip clear. 9.00pm BST 55 min: Gutkovskis isn’t disheartened, and now cuts in from the right before firing a curler towards the top-left corner. Just wide. Had the shot been on target, Pickford may or may not have been getting to it. 9.00pm BST 54 min: Ikaunieks pings a long pass down the inside-left channel for Gutkovskis. The striker’s clear of Konsa! He enters the box but, as Pickford comes out to close him down, hesitates fatally. Konsa recovers to extend a leg from behind and hook-tackle the ball away from danger. Brilliant last-ditch stop! 8.56pm BST 52 min: England stroke it around with the patience of a team who know the job is long done. 8.55pm BST 50 min: Rice’s vicious free kick nicks off Cigaņiks’s head and out for a corner. That was very close to flying into the top right for an own goal. Nothing comes of the next set piece. 8.54pm BST 49 min: England stroke it around patiently. Eventually the new boy Toņiševs’s patience snaps and he fouls Lewis-Skelly out on the left. Rice to swing the free kick into the mixer. 8.51pm BST 47 min: England are kicking towards the remainder of their support. Gordon attacks down the left and crosses. A brief game of pinball breaks out, before the whistle goes to release the pressure on the hosts. 8.49pm BST Latvia get the second half started. They’ve replaced Jurkovskis with Toņiševs. “Harry Kane is the quintessential great footballer who looks nothing like a great footballer,” suggests Paul Griffin. “Not since Neville Southall has a static player looked more in need of a mobility scooter, but moved like a panther/lynx/big cat of your choice.” 8.45pm BST Our very own Philip Cornwall is at the stadium tonight on a busman’s holiday. Here’s his dispatch from the stands. Lots of England fans leaving at half-time, job done. A 9.45pm local time kick-off is a nonsense when most of the public transport routes back to the city centre finish around 11.30. Uncovered seats, rain, 3-0 up... stay to the end and you risk a sodden 45-minute walk back. 8.37pm BST Half-time entertainment. Related: David Squires on … plane sailing for Tuchel’s England amid off-field distractions 8.36pm BST HALF TIME: Latvia 0-3 England It took a while, but England eventually ran up the half-time scoreline a performance of total domination has deserved. Thomas Tuchel’s men are once again in the goals, playing some easy-on-the-eye football. They’re going to the World Cup. Updated at 8.38pm BST 8.35pm BST GOAL! Latvia 0-3 England (Kane 45+4) Kane takes his time, leaps before shooting, and passes the penalty into the bottom left, having sent Zviedris the wrong way. Updated at 8.37pm BST 8.33pm BST Penalty to England 45 min +2: Rice’s corner comes in from the left. Černomordijs hauls down Kane. Play continues, but eventually VAR calls the referee over to the monitor. Not too long after, the ref points to the spot. Updated at 8.36pm BST 8.32pm BST 45 min: … and it was nearly number 76, as Rice advances down the left before looping long for Kane, who heads down towards the bottom left. Zviedris sticks out a strong hand to shovel out for a corner. It’s not quite Banks v Pele, but there’s a vague resemblance. Just vague, mind. It was a decent save. 8.30pm BST GOAL! Latvia 0-2 England (Kane 44) Kane takes a couple of touches, right to left, along the edge of the Latvia D, before whipping a vicious low drive into the bottom left. Zviedris with no chance! Goal number 75 in appearance 110. Updated at 8.33pm BST 8.29pm BST 43 min: Rogers slips a pass in from the left for Anderson, who opens his body and slices a sidefoot wide right. England are soon coming at the hosts again, Kane playing a cute reverse pass down the inside-left channel to nearly release Rice. Zviedris comes out and smothers. 8.28pm BST 41 min: Saka dribbles in from the right and is tap-tackled around the ankles by a prone Zelenkovs, who is punished with a booking. Saka gets up to take the resulting free kick himself, and doesn’t clear the first man. 8.25pm BST 39 min: Gordon, his tail very much up, dances in from the left only for his curler towards the bottom right to be deflected wide. He doesn’t get the corner he deserves. Then Anderson swings in from the right, but Černomordijs denies Gordon the chance to meet the dropping ball, ten yards out. Finally Kane whistles a low drive wide right. England pressing hard to double their lead. 8.23pm BST 37 min: Gordon dribbles to the byline on the left and fires a low ball through the six-yard box. Kane can’t sort his feet under pressure from Balodis, who does a great job to deny the England captain an opportunity to slam home from close range, ushering the ball away to the right of goal. 8.21pm BST 35 min: Kane cuts in from the left and tries to do a Gordon. His shot pings off a defender’s knee and out for a corner on the right. Rice sends it in, and the hosts clear their lines without fuss. 8.19pm BST 33 min: In the meantime, Cigaņiks slides recklessly into Spence, who was busy turning him inside out with a neat bit of skill. The Latvian goes into the book and will miss his country’s next match. 8.18pm BST 31 min: Kane heads the corner clear. Konsa and England were lucky to get away with that one, because the defender’s arm wasn’t right by his side. Proximity his saviour, from VAR’s point of view, allied to an unwillingness to overturn the on-field decision. 8.17pm BST 29 min: … and here Jurkovskis comes again, down the same flank. He crosses to the near post. Gutkovskis tries to steer goalwards. His first-time flick pings off Konsa’s right arm. Anderson blooters behind for a corner. Latvia want a penalty, but they’re not getting one. Updated at 8.40pm BST 8.14pm BST 28 min: Jurkovskis tries to make up for his bystander’s role in the goal by racing down the right and crossing to … nobody in particular. But that’s a rare sortie by Latvia into English territory. 8.13pm BST GOAL! Latvia 0-1 England (Gordon 26) Gordon chases after a long Stones pass down the left. He cuts into the box, past the flailing Jurkovskis, and steers a low curler across Zviedris and into the bottom right. Fair to say it had been coming. Updated at 8.16pm BST 8.12pm BST 25 min: Lewis-Skelly passes infield from the left. Rice intercepts. Had he left well alone, Kane, behind him, would be bursting clear down the inside-left channel. But never mind, because England recycle possession and … 8.10pm BST 24 min: England continue to keep Latvia pinned in their final third. The passing and probing continues. 8.08pm BST 22 min: Černomordijs is in action again, heading Spence’s right-wing cross behind for England’s first corner of the evening. Rice swings it in. The hosts deal with it easily enough. 8.07pm BST 21 min: Gordon romps into the Latvia box from the left. Černomordijs hangs out a leg. Gordon hurdles it and runs the ball out for a goal kick. There was an opportunity to clatter into the Latvia captain’s leg in the professional style, and give the referee a decision to make, but the England winger stayed honest. Updated at 8.12pm BST 8.05pm BST 19 min: Pickford has a touch of the ball. Nice for everyone to get a go. 8.04pm BST 18 min: England pass and probe patiently. 8.02pm BST 16 min: Gordon comes in from the left and tries to score a mirror-image of Saka’s Wales goal. It was more a mirror-image of Saka’s shot on 13 min. 8.01pm BST 15 min: Kane, Lewis-Skelly and Rogers nearly slice Lativa open down the inside-left channel with some fluid first-time passing. Rogers can’t quite get the ball under control to burst clear. Some lovely interplay. 7.59pm BST 13 min: Saka glides in from the right and tries to replicate his curler against Wales. Not this time. High. Wide. Updated at 8.03pm BST 7.59pm BST 12 min: Gordon with yet another cross from the left. Rogers, rushing into the box from the other flank, can’t get his head to the ball. Goal kick. But already this feels like a matter of time. 7.57pm BST 11 min: Saka crosses long from the right. Kane decides he won’t get anything on target from a tight angle, so cuts back for Anderson instead. Anderson chests down and blooters over the bar. It’s all England in these opening moments. 7.55pm BST 9 min: Gordon makes good down the left again but this time his delivery isn’t so accurate. Both of England’s wingers already looking lively. 7.54pm BST 7 min: Gordon scampers down the other wing and cuts back for Kane, teeing up the captain, eight yards out. Kane opens his body and flips a sidefooted effort inches wide left. That should have been goal number 75 in appearance 110. Plenty of time for that yet. 7.52pm BST 6 min: Saka has another look down the right, and drops a shoulder to skin Cigaņiks. But there are a few other defenders in the box, and he’s soon crowded out. 7.51pm BST 4 min: Other than that, it’s a fairly nondescript start. “I’m no expert in the Latvian language, but I don’t see any mention of Fifa on their pennant/epaulette,” tut-tuts Jonathan McKinley. “Are you going to tell Signor Infantino or shall I?” 7.49pm BST 2 min: What a start that nearly was. England’s fastest ever goal, incidentally, was a 12-second effort scored by Tommy Lawton in a 5-2 win over Belgium in Brussels in 1947. 7.47pm BST England get the ball rolling. And within 37 seconds, they’ve put it into the net. However it won’t count, because Saka was miles offside when found down the right by Anderson, so rolling it across the face of goal for Kane to trundle home was an exercise in futility. Updated at 7.53pm BST 7.44pm BST The teams are out! Just 10,000 or so at the Daugava in Riga, but there’s a fine atmosphere nevertheless. England wear their famous white shirts, while Latvia’s kit is of a lush, vivid, deep red. Then the national anthems. England’s we know about; the Latvian number is slow, steady, stately, sweetly sung and straight to the point: “God bless Latvia! Our beloved fatherland! Do bless Latvia! O do bless it!” We’ll be off in a couple of minutes. 7.35pm BST Thomas Tuchel speaks to ITV. “Good pitch … good lights … we have a task that we want to fulfil … we can qualify today … the pitch looks fast … perfect weather to play football … Marc [Guéhi] gets a rest because he is the one who played the most minutes in our squad and very likely will play a lot of minutes after camp for Crystal Palace … we want to play with both of our full-backs … attack with both wing-backs … we have good options from the bench to finish the match and we will use them … we want to push it over the line … it’s the moment … we are here to win … nothing is guaranteed but we want to do it today.” 7.30pm BST In other World Cup news, 1958 runners-up Sweden have been doing their level best not to qualify for the 2026 version. Their coach Jon Dahl Tomasson has just been sacked after a miserable 1-0 defeat at home to Kosovo left Alexander Isak, Viktor Gyökeres et al bottom of their group. Now it seems Graham Potter, who spent seven successful years in charge of Östersund, fancies taking charge of the salvage job. Ed Aarons reports. Related: Graham Potter keen on Sweden job after sacking of Jon Dahl Tomasson Updated at 7.31pm BST 7.24pm BST Pennant Watch. Hats off to the Latvian Football Federation, because goodness me, that is some premium tasselling. Attach a couple of those to the shoulders of a velvet robe and you’ve got yourself one high-end smoking jacket. Here, meanwhile, the photographer has done their best to jazz up England’s usual quickly-knocked-out, will-this-do effort by coming at it from a dynamic angle. Eagle-eyed pennant aficionados will have spotted that the FA have tinkered with the order of the information under the shield: at Euro 2025, the tournament title was above that of the fixture, while the date was above the name of the stadium, with no reference at all to the day. As with refereeing, VAR and so on, some consistency is all we’re asking for. 6.53pm BST Jordan Pickford wins his 80th cap tonight. He last let in a goal at the tail end of cap number 71. Here’s David Hytner on England’s record-breaking keeper. Related: Jordan Pickford leads England defensive stability as World Cup spot beckons 6.33pm BST There are two changes to the England starting XI after the 3-0 defeat of Wales. The captain Harry Kane returns from injury, taking the place of Ollie Watkins, who is no longer with the squad due to a knee problem. Myles Lewis-Skelly comes into a reshuffled defence with John Stones partnering Ezri Konsa in the middle; Marc Guehi drops to the bench as a result. Related: England 3-0 Wales: international football friendly – as it happened Updated at 6.35pm BST 6.29pm BST The teams Latvia: Zviedris, Vapne, Jurkovskis, Cernomordijs, Balodis, Ciganiks, Varslavans, Veips, Zelenkovs, Gutkovskis, Ikaunieks.Subs: Orols, Matrevics, Jagodinskis, Grabovskis, Daskevics, Savalnieks, Penkevics, Pulis, Tonisevs, Regza, Melniks, Saveljevs. England: Pickford, Spence, Stones, Konsa, Lewis-Skelly, Anderson, Rice, Saka, Rogers, Gordon, Kane.Subs: Dean Henderson, Trafford, Guehi, Jordan Henderson, Eze, Rashford, Burn, Gibbs-White, Bowen, O’Reilly, Loftus-Cheek. Referee: Tasos Sidiropoulos (Greece). 6.00pm BST Preamble England will qualify for the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico if they beat Latvia tonight. It’ll only be a story if they fail to do it. Thomas Tuchel’s side are ranked fourth in the world and purring, having recently stuck five past Serbia and three past Wales. They’re top of Group K having won all five of their previous matches without conceding a goal. One of those victories was this one … Related: Reece James bends it like Beckham to help England break down Latvia … which was an outcome only to be expected against a side ranked 137th. And it’s fair to say Latvia are not in form. They’ve only won four of their last 31 matches, and those against Armenia, Faroe Islands (twice) and Andorra; they were unable to beat the Andorrans at home last weekend. So chances are England will be rubber-stamping their documents for the Americas this evening. Still, you never know, and if you shop around you can get as much as 60s if you fancy Latvia to record one of the great upsets. Either way, fate will begin to do its thing at 7.45pm UK time, 9.45pm in Riga. It’s on!