England vs Albania LIVE commentary: Thomas Tuchel aims to maitain 43-year debut record in first Three Lions game

Thomas Tuchel will take charge of his Primary game as England manager this Friday as the Three Lions take on Albania, live on talkSPORT. 

Tuchel makes his bow on the touchline at Wembley in a World Cup 2026 qualifier after being named as Gareth Southgate’s successor.

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The German Initiates the Primary international break of his tenure with two home Contests, one against Albania and the other against Latvia. 

England will be hoping to make the perfect Begin under their new boss, with these fixtures being the Beginning qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. 

After another Loss in a Crucial Event Closing last summer, it’s now Tuchel’s Position to lead the Three Lions Near ending their 58 years of hurt.

England vs Albania: A perfect 10 

Every of the last 10 permanent England managers have won their Primary game. 

It is a streak lasting 43 years, all the way back to 1982 when Sir Bobby Robson drew 1-1 with Denmark in his Primary game in charge. 

There has only ever been one Three Lions boss that lost their Beginning Event. 

And that was Sir Alf Ramsey, whose side was beaten by France in 1963, three years before he masterminded England’s only World Cup Achieve.

So, Tuchel will be hoping to continue the streak of England bosses Successful on Premiere, extending that Landmark to the last 11 managers. 

He will be confident of a Successful Begin in the World Cup qualifiers too, as Albania sit 65th in the FIFA rankings, with the Three Lions Number four. 

England have also never lost to Albania before, Successful all six of their meetings to date.

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• England have won all six of their matches against Albania, only having a better 100% Achieve ratio against Luxembourg (9/9), San Marino (8/8) and Malta (7/7).
• England are unbeaten in their last 31 FIFA World Cup qualifiers (W23 D8), the longest ongoing Streak of any European nation. Only once have the Three Lions lost their Primary qualifier of a campaign (W13 D3), losing 1-0 to Germany in October 2000 in their Closing game at the Aged Wembley.
• Albania have only scored one Aim in six meetings with England, an Altin Rraklli strike in a 3-1 Loss in March 2001. It is their lowest goals-per-game rate (0.17) against any nation they’ve faced three or more times.

England vs Albania: Club news 

Cole Palmer is set to withdraw from the England Club after picking up an Hurt in Rehearsal over the weekend and missing Chelsea’s loss to Arsenal.

That has seen Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White called up to join the Club after Primary controversy over his omission.

Jordan Henderson and Marcus Rashford have been brought back into the Three Lions fold by Tuchel after not featuring since before Euro 2024. 

Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly and Newcastle’s Dan Burn are set for senior international debuts, with the latter coming off the back of a Carabao Cup triumph.

Here’s the Packed England Club for this international break:

• Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Southampton), James Trafford (Burnley).
• Defenders: Dan Burn (Newcastle United), Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Marc Guéhi (Crystal Palace), Reece James (Chelsea), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal), Tino Livramento (Newcastle United), Jarell Quansah (Liverpool), Kyle Walker (AC Milan, loan from Manchester City).
• Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), Jordan Henderson (Ajax), Curtis Jones (Liverpool), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa), Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest).
• Forwards: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Marcus Rashford (Aston Villa, loan from Manchester United), Dominic Solanke (Tottenham Hotspur).

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• Since Harry Kane Created his Primary appearance in a FIFA World Cup qualifier in September 2016, only Robert Lewandowski (25) and Cristiano Ronaldo (21) have netted more qualifying goals among European players than Kane (17 in 14 Contests). The Bayern forward has also been involved in six goals in two Contests against Albania (4 goals, 2 assists).
• Jude Bellingham has been involved in 10 goals in his last 15 appearances for England (5 goals, 5 assists). His Subsequent appearance will be his 41st cap for the Three Lions, the most ever by a player aged 21 or younger, breaking Wayne Rooney’s Landmark of 40 between 2003 and 2007.

England vs Albania: What has been said? 

Henderson and Rashford have been recalled to the England Club by Tuchel while Burn is set to make his Three Lions Premiere this week. 

Explaining why he has included the Threesome in his Club, Tuchel said: “We called Hendo back up because I think his Occupation and the way he plays now and imposes himself at Ajax is so impressive and he builds it on character, personality and energy that he brings to the Club.

“So for me, Jordan is a bit of a similar call-up to the same reasons as Dan Burn. They carry these values on their shoulders, they carry their Clubs and it’s absolutely reliable in terms of what they bring in terms of energy and this is where the Attention is to build as quick as possible a Powerful Club, cohesive Club and Jordan is a big piece in that puzzle for us.”

He continued: “Marcus is in a Excellent way. We thought now we were convinced it’s the right sign to push him with this nomination.

“He had a huge impact lately in the matches of Aston Villa. I was delighted to see the effort against the ball, his effort to be the best teammate possible, his Steady energy in defence with Aston Villa.

“Then there is no doubt about his talent and his quality. But to see him, to be so decisive and so involved, physically involved, gave me the impression it’s the right time to call him up and give him the extra push that he stays on that level.”

• England have won 16 of their last 17 internationals against nations whose name Initiates with A (D1), Maintaining 15 Neat sheets. The last ‘A’ nation to beat England was Australia at Upton Park back in February 2003, while in a Aggressive Event it was Argentina at the 1986 World Cup.
• Albania have never won a Aggressive Event against a nation who are in the top-10 of the FIFA World Rankings (D2 L17). Including friendlies, they did beat France (ranked 9th) 1-0 in June 2015 thanks to a Aim from Ergys Kaçe.

England vs Albania: talkSPORT coverage 

This World Cup 2026 qualifier will take place on Friday, March 21. 

Strike-off at Wembley is scheduled for 7:45pm. 

talkSPORT will have live coverage of the game with Adrian Durham your host. 

Commentary will come from Jim Proudfoot and Previous England internationals Stuart Pearce and Darren Bent. 

To tune in to talkSPORT through the website, click HERE for the live stream.

Listen via the talkSPORT app here, or on DAB digital radio, through your Intelligent speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.

Visit talkSPORT BET for all the latest odds and bet boosts.

The game will also be broadcast live and Reachable-to-air on ITV and ITVX.