Tuchel makes winning start, Poland overcome Lithuania

Thomas Tuchel made a winning start to life as England coach with a 2-0 victory against Albania in 2026 World Cup qualifying on Friday, while Robert Lewandowski handed Poland a narrow win over Lithuania.

Goals in either half from debutant Myles Lewis-Skelly and captain Harry Kane were enough to get England over the line as they began their qualification campaign for the next World Cup, which will take place in the USA, Canada and Mexico.

Since taking over the reins from Gareth Southgate in January, Tuchel promised a more vibrant England side but there were only a few fleeting examples of that in an uninspiring yet efficient win at Wembley.

“We can do better, we have to do better. We started well, we had seven-eight minutes with 100 percent ball possession with a lot of passes and high energy,” said a critical Tuchel.

“Second half, I felt we were too slow and in general not enough runs off the ball to get behind the line.” The 51-year-old German described managing England at Wembley for the first time as a “very new experience”, adding: “Myles Lewis-Skelly debuts with me on the pitch, so I am not all alone.”

Tuchel had urged England to emulate the intensity and attacking intent of the best Premier League sides rather than letting the fear of failure influence them as it had at times in Southgate’s eight-year reign.

Instead, the German found getting England to change their ways will take more than a rousing speech.

“We wanted to increase the rhythm and risk in the second half. But we were not disciplined enough in the structure. We tried to do too much individually and it slowed our game down,” he said.

“You want to see an open match. I can understand it’s not the most exciting watch, but we still needed to do what was needed to do.”

Lewis-Skelly, aged 18 years and 176 days, became the youngest player to score on his England debut when he slid a composed finish through the legs of goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha on 20 minutes, following a sublime through-ball by Jude Bellingham.

“I’m lost for words really. I’m just so grateful to the manager for putting trust in me,” said the Arsenal teenager.

The other moment of inspiration in the match came with 13 minutes remaining as Kane magnificently plucked a deep Declan Rice cross out of the air at the back post and slotted the ball into the far corner.

The 31-year-old’s 70th international goal came just 24 hours after England’s record scorer claimed people were “bored” of his achievements.

Tuchel was greeted with a banner unfurled by fans with the slogan “Welcome to the home of football Thomas” as he walked out of the tunnel before kick-off.

True to his word, Tuchel did not sing the English national anthem after saying he had to “earn the right” and there were few songs of praise for Tuchel as Wembley started to empty well before the final whistle.

Elsewhere on the opening matchday of European qualifying, Poland edged a 1-0 win against Lithuania in Warsaw.

Barcelona striker Lewandowski fired home from the edge of the box in the 81st minute to give Michal Probierz’s side a winning start in Group G.

Finland overcame Malta by the same scoreline thanks to a first-half goal by Oliver Antman, with the hosts finishing a player down after Maltese defender Kurt Shaw was dismissed.

Cyprus top Group H thanks to a 2-0 home victory over San Marino, while Bosnia and Hercegovina won 1-0 in Romania.

In England’s Group K, Latvia also got underway with a win, beating Andorra 1-0.

Agencies