England has become the first European team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, but this alone doesn’t fully capture the extraordinary form of Thomas Tuchel’s squad. The English side has won all seven of their World Cup qualifying matches, scoring 20 goals without conceding any.
Tonight (Sunday), Harry Kane’s in-form team faces Albania. If England keeps a clean sheet and wins this final group match, they will make history. No European team has ever achieved a perfect winning record with a clean sheet throughout a World Cup qualifying campaign of at least six matches. Although four European teams have qualified with a 100% win rate before, they all conceded goals.
England leads Group K with 21 points, while Albania is second with 14 points from seven matches, holding four wins, two draws, and one loss. Before the two teams met, Albania’s coach Silvino humorously described England’s form as “Disgusting.” Tuchel’s squad previously defeated Albania 2-0 at Wembley during the qualifiers’ first round.
England vs Albania
England vs Albania, however, is the away leg in Albania, which Silvino believes will be an even tougher challenge. The teams face off at 11 pm Bangladesh time today. Silvino acknowledged England’s improvement, saying, “Unfortunately, I have to say they are stronger now than six months ago. Their winning streak and clean sheet record are amazing.
It’s annoying! But we are happy to face one of the best teams and want to do our job well.” The former Manchester City left-back added, “My players are confident and love playing their style of football. We will try to score, and hopefully, it will be a good, competitive match. Anything can happen in 90 minutes. Their coach is excellent at organizing the game, and they have some of the best players in the world.” (Source)
Meanwhile, England’s coach Tuchel is focused not on history but on discipline, aiming to avoid any red cards. Considering Cristiano Ronaldo’s concerns about early World Cup suspensions, Tuchel said, “Please, no one gets a red card. This is important and something we’ll discuss within the team. Right now, the risk is low, but some players may be prone to aggression, so I’d say don’t do that. There’s no point in worrying about records; we just want to do our job again. I have faith in our players.”
