England play the second of two home games against minnows in four days to begin manager Thomas Tuchel’s reign when they face opponents ranked 140th in the world against Latvia on Monday (19:45 GMT).
Tuchel seemed underwhelmed after his opening game in charge produced a 2-0 win over Albania on Friday, although the Champions League winner was suitably impressed by Myles Lewis-Skelly after the 18-year-old scored in the 20th minute of his international debut.
A superb finish by Harry Kane sealed a satisfactory start for Tuchel, although the German hinted that he could make changes against Latvia when he appeared to criticise his wide players following their routine victory.
101GreatGoals.com has you covered for the line-ups, team news and confirmed starting sides for England vs Latvia.
— England (@England) March 24, 2025
England lineup vs Latvia
Manchester City full-back Kyle Walker – on loan at Milan – joins Cityzens attacker Phil Foden in dropping to the bench, as do Newcastle centre-back Dan Burn, who hit the crossbar against Albania, and Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones.
Wideman Reece James, who worked with Tuchel during his time as Chelsea manager between 2021 and 2022, makes his first England start since June 2022, with Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi joining him in defence and Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers and West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen the new faces in attack.
England are without a host of regulars who may otherwise have been in Tuchel’s squad, with Bukayo Saka, John Stones, Harry Maguire, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Lewis Hall missing out.
Anthony Gordon was injured against Albania and Chelsea top scorer Cole Palmer had already been ruled out after suffering an injury before his side’s defeat at Arsenal eight days ago.
Forward Marcus Rashford, who is on loan at Aston Villa from Manchester United, keeps his place to make his second international start since November 2023 after a first call-up in almost a year.
Another packed-out @WembleyStadium awaits 🔜😍 pic.twitter.com/q2b54noxR7
— England (@England) March 24, 2025
England starting XI: Pickford, James, Konsa, Guehi, Lewis-Skelly, Rogers, Rice, Bellingham, Bowen, Rashford, Kane.
England substitutes: Trafford, Henderson, Quansah, Colwill, Eze, Solanke, Walker, Foden, Burn, Jones, Gibbs-White.
Latvia lineup v England
Latvia emerged unscathed from their 1-0 victory in Andorra in their first match of the campaign, in which 21-year-old Parma striker Dario Sits scored the 58th-minute winner.
Midfielder Deniss Melniks, who was replaced at half-time, is on the bench this time, while Sits has not done enough to persuade Italian manager Paolo Nicolato to hand him a starting berth.
Latvia starting XI: Zviedris, Balodis, Cernomordijs, Gutkovskis, Ikaunieks, Savalnieks, Jurkovskis, Ciganiks, Zelenkovs, Jaunzems, Saveljevs
Latvia substitutes: Ozols, Matrevics, Jagodinskis, Sliede, Isajevs, Daskevics, Vapne, Sits, Krollis, Melniks, Tonisevs
🏟️Stadionā viss gatavs komandas uzņemšanai#LatvijasIzlase #11vilki #ENGLVA pic.twitter.com/diHUF8R8CZ
— Futbola federācija (@kajbumba) March 24, 2025
How to watch England v Latvia: TV and online stream
The game kicks off at 7.45pm UK time and can be watched on ITV1. It can also be streamed on the ITVX app and on ITV.com.
England World Cup qualifiers
As well as Latvia, England’s Group K rivals comprise Albania, Andorra and Serbia. Of those opponents, Serbia’s standing of 32 at the start of qualifying made them by far the highest-ranked team Tuchel’s side will face.
Serbia proved tricky opponents at Euro 2024, with only a Jude Bellingham goal separating the teams in their opener in Germany.
Including games as Yugoslavia and Serbia & Montenegro, Dragan Stojkovic’s nation have lost their last five meetings with England, although they held an impressive record of one defeat in their last 21 World Cup qualifying matches before the group began, winning 14 and drawing six.
⏪ Back in November 2021…
🏴5️⃣-0️⃣🇦🇱 pic.twitter.com/JfIJQD39r0
— England (@England) March 21, 2025
Albania are one of five nations England have faced more than six times and won against every time, alongside Luxembourg (9), San Marino (8), Malta (7) and Andorra (6) – a record they continued with victory on Monday.
Andorra are ranked 171st and have lost all six of the encounters between the countries by an aggregate score of 25-0.
Ben Chilwell, Bukayo Saka, Tammy Abraham, James Ward-Prowse and Jack Grealish scored when England won 5-0 in Andorra in October 21.
Togetherness and creating a bond 🤝 pic.twitter.com/hkQRundhgg
— England (@England) March 21, 2025
England football team World Cup qualifying fixtures
All fixtures start at 19:45 GMT unless otherwise stated.
Monday, March 24: England v Latvia
Saturday, June 7: Andorra v England (17:00)
Saturday, September 6: England v Andorra (17:00)
Tuesday, September 9: Serbia v England
Tuesday, October 14: Latvia v England
Thursday, November 13: England v Serbia
Sunday, November 16: Albania v England (17:00)
Sound on for this one. 🤩🔊 pic.twitter.com/ozcnaDn58Q
— England (@England) March 19, 2025
England games: What happens if Three Lions top group?
The top team from each of the 12 European Qualifier groups proceeds automatically to the finals, which will be expanded to 48 teams.
Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Portugal, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, France and Croatia are among the other favourites to win their groups.
What happens if England finish second in World Cup qualifiers?
England will be eliminated if they finish third or below and enter the play-offs between March 26-31 2026 if they come second.
The 12 runners-up in each group will join four Nations League teams in the play-offs, which will be drawn from pots based on teams’ records during the campaign. The games will comprise single-leg semi-finals and finals.
The draw for the World Cup finals will take place in December 2025. The tournament runs from June 11 until July 19 2026.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
