England are on the cusp of securing their place at the 2026 World Cup as they face Latvia in Riga on Tuesday night. A win for the Three Lions at the Daugava Stadium will guarantee their spot in the finals to be held in Canada, Mexico, and the United States next summer.
Currently leading Group K with a perfect record of five wins from five matches, England have yet to concede a goal in this qualifying campaign. Their opponent, Latvia, sits fourth in the group with only one win, two draws, and three losses.
England manager Thomas Tuchel emphasized the importance of maintaining focus and delivering a strong performance. "The players are fully focused, they trained with a lot of quality," Tuchel said. "Everyone has made an impact and made themselves available... The focus is building a strong team, playing a team that's used to playing with each other to put in a strong performance to win an away game in a World Cup qualifier".
Latvia, ranked 137th in the world by FIFA, faces a daunting task against the fourth-ranked England. However, Latvia's coach Paolo Nicolato, acknowledged the need for improvement within his squad. "We are not yet ready, sometimes, for this level," Nicolato stated. "We have many things to improve, especially our attitude... I'm very happy to face this kind of team, I think it's useful for us".
This match marks the first time England has played an away game against Latvia. The previous encounter between the two nations occurred in March 2025 at Wembley, where England secured a 3-0 victory. Reece James, Harry Kane, and Eberechi Eze, with his first international goal, were the scorers that day.
Harry Kane is set to return to the starting lineup after recovering from an ankle injury. However, Ollie Watkins will miss the match due to a knock sustained in the friendly against Wales. Jarell Quansah has also been sidelined due to injury.
Latvia may field a 5-3-2 formation, with Dario Šits and Vladislavs Gutkovskis in attack, although Šits is carrying a minor injury. Andrejs Cigaņiks could also make his 59th consecutive appearance for Latvia, tying the national record.
The match is scheduled to kick off at 7:45 p.m. BST. Anastasios Sidiropoulos from Greece will be the referee, with Angelos Evangelou, also from Greece, serving as the VAR.
Should England secure qualification against Latvia, their attention will shift to the draw for the World Cup finals, scheduled for December 5 in Washington D.C.
