England continued their perfect start in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers following a 1-0 win over Andorra on Saturday evening.
New Real Madrid signing Trent Alexander-Arnold started on the bench alongside Declan Rice, but manager Thomas Tuchel still put out a solid eleven which included Curtis Jones, Noni Madueke, Jude Bellingham, Cole Palmer and Harry Kane.
After neither side pulled clear in the opening spell, the Three Lions resumed on the up and duly hit the front as skipper Kane finished off a delivery from Madueke.
The English were in firm control thereafter and did enough to run down the clock and bagged another win to continue their march towards the finals next June.
Finland 0-2 Netherlands
The Netherlands made the ideal start to their World Cup qualifying campaign in Group G with a 2-0 win over Finland at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium.
Denzel Dumfries, Tijani Reijnders. Frenkie De Jong, Coady Gakpo and Memphis Depay started for the Oranje.
The Dutch needed just six minutes to get going as Depay pulled in space in the six-yard area and finished with aplomb – giving Lukas Hradecky no chance.
Dumfries doubled the lead in the midway point of the first half after turning home a cross from Gakpo.
The Netherlands' advantage wasn’t under threat as they were able to see out the closing stages/
Norway 3-0 Italy
Italy made a poor start to their qualifying campaign after a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Norway in Group I.
Azzurri started key men in goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, Alessandro Bastoni, Nicolo Barella, Sandro Tonali and Federico Dimarco, while Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard headlined the hosts' line-up.
The Azzurri were given a rude awakening and trailed in the opening-quarter courtesy of Alexander Sorloth as well as Antonio Nusa.
Free-scoring and star player Erling Haaland compounded the visitors’ woes a minute to the interval when he dispatched Martin Odegaard’s assist and effectively put the clash to bed.
North Macedonia 1-1 Belgium
Belgium’s road to next year’s global showpiece started on the back-foot following a 1-1 draw against North Macedonia in a Group J qualifying encounter.
Coach Rudi Garcia started Leandro Trossard on the bench, but still presented a strong starting line-up as Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Jeremy Doku set out in attack.
Red Devils hit the front two minutes ahead of the half-hour mark courtesy of a well-executed finish from Maxim De Cuyper.
Macedonia’s confidence didn’t drop despite trailing at the break and were rewarded minutes to the end when Ezgjan Alioski’s snap effort got the better of Matz Sels.