England host Albania in Thomas Tuchel’s first game in charge

The Thomas Tuchel era begins on Friday evening as the former Chelsea and Bayern Munich manager oversees his first match in charge of England.

The 51-year-old was officially appointed England boss last October but only started the job at the beginning of the calendar year. He’s had several months to plan and prepare ahead of his first outing and a visit from Albania is a fairly welcoming start for the German.

England begin their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign at Wembley Stadium against the surprise Euro 2024 qualifiers and will be in action again on Monday evening when Latvia visit. Their other competitors in Group K are Serbia and Andorra.

There has been much speculation over what the future holds under Tuchel and England supporters will be desperate to witness the first glimpse of what they hope is an exciting reign. Albania showed their ability to cause problems at last summer’s Euros but they should prove no match for the motivated Three Lions.

It’s difficult to predict just how Tuchel will line up for the first time as England head coach but his selection has somewhat been limited by injuries. Trent Alexander-Arnold, Bukayo Saka and Cole Palmer are among those absent – the latter withdrawing in the squad and replaced by Morgan Gibbs-White.

There were some surprise omissions, most notably Ollie Watkins and Conor Gallagher, while a few eyebrows have been raised by the selection of Jordan Henderson and Marcus Rashford – both of whom have missed recent squads.

Dan Burn scored at Wembley last weekend as Newcastle United won the Carabao Cup and he’s been selected having never represented England at any level previously. Jarell Quansah and Myles Lewis-Skelly are at the other end of the age scale but both defenders are hoping to make senior debuts over the next two games.

The leading names have all been selected, with Jude Bellingham, Harry Kane, Phil Foden and Declan Rice aiming to make fast starts under Tuchel.

England predicted lineup vs Albania (4-2-3-1): Pickford; James, Guehi, Colwill, Lewis-Skelly; Henderson, Rice; Foden, Bellingham, Rashford; Kane.

Armando Broja’s recent return from injury has boosted Sylvinho’s options ahead of clashes with England and Andorra, with the on-loan Everton forward aiming to punish clubmate and England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. He only returned from a two-month absence last weekend against West Ham United.

Rangers attacking midfielder Nedim Bajrami is another England will have to keep close tabs on at Wembley. The 26-year-old, who scored against Italy at Euro 2024, has contributed to nine goals in Scotland this season.

Albania predicted lineup vs England (4-3-3): Strakosha; Balliu, Ismajli, Djimsiti, Aliji; Asllani, Ramadani, Bajrami; Asani, Broja, Muci.