Overview
The appointment of Thomas Tuchel as Gareth Southgate's successor was once widely welcomed. However, his first four games as England manager have been disappointing.
Although the "Three Lions" won all the 2026 World Cup qualifiers and are steadfast in their journey to the US, Mexico and Canada, the 1-3 friendly loss to Senegal in June caused Tuchel to face many criticisms.
During the first international break of the 2025-2026 season, Tuchel's team has the opportunity to take another important step in their journey to qualify for the World Cup. They will face Andorra, before facing a more difficult challenge on Serbia's field.
The match against Andorra will take place at Villa Park, because Wembley is busy holding a concert of the band Coldplay on the same day. This is also the first time England have played at Aston Villa's home ground since a goalless draw with the Netherlands in February 2005.
In their nine appearances at Villa Park, the "Three Lions" have won just four (D4 L1) - a win rate of 44.4%, the lowest among home games in which they have played at least three times. It would be a big shock if Tuchel's team failed to improve that record against Andorra, but the most important thing is still how they won.
England are now unbeaten in 34 consecutive World Cup qualifiers (W26 D8) since a 1-0 defeat to Ukraine in October 2009. At home, their unbeaten streak has lasted 30 matches (won 27, drawn 3), with the most recent defeat being a 0-1 loss to Germany at Wembley in October 2000.
The "Three Lions" enter this series of matches in 4th place on the FIFA rankings. Meanwhile, Andorra have lost all 46 matches against opponents in the world's top 20 at the time of the match, with a total score of 5-168. And they have little basis to believe that record will change.
Notably, Andorra has gone 14 consecutive official matches without scoring (D2, L12), since Albert Rosas' goal against Israel in June 2023. If they cannot score in this match, they will re-establish a streak of 15 consecutive official matches without scoring - similar to the period 2010-2013.
Against a weak opponent, this is considered an opportunity for Tuchel to experiment with personnel. However, based on what he has shown, it is likely that he will still choose familiar faces. At that time, Harry Kane was certainly the priority name for the center forward position.
Kane has had a hand in 54 goals in 38 qualifying matches for major tournaments (EURO/World Cup), including 43 goals and 11 assists. The striker is also aiming to score in 6 consecutive matches for England for the 4th time in his career. This is an achievement that only 6 other players in the history of the "Three Lions" have achieved.
Head-to-head record
Andorra have lost all three of their most recent visits to England, with a total score of 0-15. The team has also not scored in seven meetings with the "Three Lions".
Apart from England, only Iceland is another opponent that Andorra has faced many times but has not scored once (7 matches). As for England, they have only met Luxembourg (9/9) and San Marino (8/8) more than Andorra, and have won all their encounters.
The two teams also met in June at Barcelona, where England won a narrow 1-0 victory thanks to Kane's goal in the 50th minute.
Score prediction: England 3-0 Andorra
The match between England and Andorra takes place at 23:00 on September 6 (Vietnam time).
