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  • 3 months ago
Daniel Wales reports as England qualify for the World Cup in North America next year, with a 0-5 win in Riga against Latvia, with Head Coach Thomas Tuchel making clear that his squad may be very similar for the November camp despite big names currently being omitted.
Transcript
00:00A rainy night in Riga, but a euphoric one for England, as they seal their qualification for next summer's World Cup in Canada, America and Mexico, with a 5-0 win over Latvia.
00:16England have qualified for the World Cup next summer in North America, with two games still to play in their group.
00:22And they're also yet to concede any goals in their qualification schedule so far, showing just how far they've come since that friendly loss against Senegal at the city ground in Nottingham back in the summer.
00:35England, though, have turned more of a corner, perhaps, in the last few games that they've played, including friendlies.
00:41It started with that 5-0 win against Serbia, and perhaps Thomas Tuchel's consistency of selection could be the catalyst behind it.
00:50Let's, though, go back to Riga to see exactly how England got themselves to the World Cup for next summer.
00:59Newcastle United winger Anthony Gordon was first on the score sheet for England, cutting in off the left wing before firing into the bottom corner.
01:08It was Gordon's second goal for England, having also netted against Ireland in the Nations League.
01:15However, Harry Kane is no stranger to scoring in England colours.
01:20As he bagged another one just before half-time from outside the box, before England were then awarded a penalty.
01:27Kane stepped up and, as usual, dispatched into the net to make it 3-0 just before the break.
01:33That was Harry Kane's 76th goal for England, extending his lead at the top of the goal-scoring charts.
01:41Latvia did have a couple of openings in the second half, but it was 4-0 thanks to an own goal.
01:46And then Eberici Eze made it 5 towards the end as he found the back of the net.
01:53Overall, quite the night for England to seal their qualification for the World Cup,
01:58with Thomas Tuchel responding to comedic chants from the England supporters.
02:02Yeah, I got a bit of stick today in the first half.
02:05I was almost in every song, so fair enough.
02:07Well done, I take it, and good humour, good sense of humour, and accepted.
02:14Thomas, after every game you've spoken about continuity, about a happy camp,
02:20and the big selection calls you've made have all been justified and they continue to be.
02:25So, what does that mean for selection going forward with regards to those November internationals?
02:31Are you going to bring players back in, and we know the names we're talking about,
02:34or does this group now deserve to go again, unchanged if possible?
02:38No, to be very honest, I don't know.
02:41I don't know, because now we know that we're qualified.
02:44I'm not so sure if this changes anything in the nomination process.
02:49Maybe it does, but I need to get my head around it next week.
02:53Now is the moment to enjoy it.
02:56You can feel it in the dressing room.
02:58You can even feel it, I can feel it with myself, but in the dressing room it's all smiles.
03:02It's a very special moment.
03:03It's not daily business that you qualified for a World Cup, so we did this today.
03:08We will then think about how this affects our next camp.
03:13Harry just gave a speech where he said everyone will be ready to keep this thing going in November.
03:22No one will step back and lean back and take anything for granted,
03:26so they feel that they're building something.
03:28Yeah, maybe it will give us the chance to try some stuff.
03:33Maybe it will give us the chance to manage minutes.
03:36But I can assure you, we will stay competitive no matter how we decide.
03:41In general, we did what we are able to do in this moment.
03:46The difference between the teams are very big, but we did something good.
03:56I think we stayed in the match in the right way, with the right attitude.
04:03We fought a lot.
04:06Of course, England will face much more tough opponents than they faced in Riga against Latvia at the World Cup next summer.
04:32Thomas Tuchel, though, is building something with England.
04:35His selection choices may be bold, but if that's what works,
04:39and if that's what makes England successful, and no one will complain.
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