England are expected to get their World Cup qualifying campaign off to a winning start.
19:45 Friday
England get their World Cup qualification campaign underway when they face Albania in Group K.
England vs Albania Prediction
- The Thomas Tuchel era for England gets underway on Friday evening, when the Three Lions host Albania at Wembley in their first 2026 World Cup qualifier.
- The hosts last faced Albania in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup, back in 2021, winning both matches by an aggregate scoreline of 7-0. In the last international break, back in November, England topped their UEFA Nations League group with five wins from six under the interim guidance of Lee Carsley.
- Visitors Albania endured a tougher Nations League campaign, finishing bottom of their group in League C, with seven points from their six games.
- In what was only their second ever major tournament, the Kuqezinjtë came fourth in Group B at Euro 2024 last summer, earning their solitary point against Croatia.
- Tuchel will be hoping to kickstart his reign with a resounding home victory here, and that will be the expectation given the impressive talent at his disposal.
Score Prediction: England 4-0 Albania
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England vs Albania Lineups
England vs Albania predicted lineups are brought to you by WhoScored.com.
England Predicted Lineup vs Albania
Pickford, Lewis-Skelly, Colwill, Guéhi, James, Henderson, Rice, Rashford, Bellingham, Rogers, Kane
Albania Predicted Lineup vs England
Strakosha, Aliji, Ajeti, Ismajli, Balliu, Laçi, Ramadani, Asllani, Muçi, Manaj, Bajrami
England vs Albania Team News
- Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold and Chelsea's Cole Palmer miss out on Thomas Tuchel's first England squad through injury.
- While Tuchel has favoured a three-man backline, he is expected to go with a four-man defence for Friday's game. Myles Lewis-Skelly may debut at left-back, while Reece James looks set to start at right-back.
- Morgan Rogers may feature down the right, but Tuchel isn't short of options down the flank.
- Albania boss Sylvinho will likely continue in a settled 4-3-3 formation here, with the likes of Rey Manaj, Thomas Strakosha and Rangers' Nedim Bajrami set to feature for the visitors.
- Chelsea loanee Armando Broja has struggled for fitness at Everton thus far, but is a part of the Albania squad for their games against England and Andorra this month.
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England vs Albania Odds
| Result | Odds | Implied Probability |
|---|---|---|
| England | 1/6 | 86% |
| Draw | 8/1 | 11% |
| Albania | 22/1 | 4.3% |
England vs Albania Bet Builder Tips
Our Bet Builder Tips for England vs Albania features Both Teams to Score - No, Harry Kane to Score & Judge Bellingham Over 1.5 Shots.
At the time of publishing this is a best price of 14/5 with BetMGM.
- England have won all six previous matches against Albania conceding just once, including a 5-0 victory at Wembley in 2021 and a 2-0 win away.
- Albania have failed to score in three of their last five games across all competitions, averaging just 0.8 goals per game in their Nations League campaign.
- England’s defence, even with injuries (e.g., Alexander-Arnold out), has kept clean sheets in five of their last six wins against Albania.
- Under Thomas Tuchel, expect a disciplined setup to kick off his tenure.
- Kane has 69 goals in 103 caps for England and a stellar record against Albania (4 goals, 2 assists in 2 games).
- He’s in top form, with 21 goals in 24 Bundesliga matches this season for Bayern Munich.
- At Wembley, he’s scored three times in England’s last two competitive internationals, and bagged a hat-trick vs Albania in 2021.
- Jude Bellingham had 12 shots in 3.9 90 minutes during the Nations League and scored once.
- He averages two shots a game for Real Madrid and should get chances against a weak opposition today.
