A new era for the England team will begin when Thomas Tuchel enters the front line for the first time as head coach. The German strategist officially took on a new role in January this year, after being appointed as Gareth Southgate's successor.
Tuchel is expected to have a smooth start with the "Three Lions" as their two upcoming opponents are only Albania and Latvia. In addition, England will also play at home.
Tuchel is looking to extend the winning streak of the "Three Lions" coaches in his first match in charge. All 10 of their most recent matches have been the same, since Bobby Robson's side drew 1-1 with Denmark in 1982. The only England head coach to lose his first match was Alf Ramsey in 1963 against France.
Albania has shown encouraging spirit at EURO 2024, but to be fair, they are still much behind England. Albania have never won an official match against a country in the top 10 of the FIFA rankings (2 draws, 17 losses). If including friendlies, they beat France 1-0 in June 2015 thanks to a goal by ergys Kace.
Therefore, Tuchel has a great chance to get off to a strong start, even though the lineup he chose has surprised many people.
Marcus Rashford has returned after a few weeks of good performances at Aston Villa, although Tuchel's pick of Kyle Walker and Jordan Henderson were the real decisions that everyone discussed.
Dan Burn has also been called up to the England squad for the first time. Although 32 years old, this central defender deserves recognition. Burn scored in Newcastle's 2-1 win over Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final, as The Magpies ended a 70-year wait for a domestic title. In the Premier League this season, no player has won more overseas challenges than the former Brighton centre-back's 101.
England are unbeaten in their last 31 World Cup qualifiers (W23 D9), their longest unbeaten run of any European country.
The "Three Lions" have only lost their first match in the World Cup qualifying campaign once (won 13, drew 3). That was a 1-0 defeat to Germany in October 2000 in their final match at the old Wembley Stadium.
England - Albania Head-to-Head Record
England have won all 6 of their most recent matches against Albania. Albania have scored just one goal in that time, when they lost 1-3 in March 2001.
The match between England and Albania takes place at 2:45 am on March 22 (Vietnam time).
