England sealed their place at the 2026 World Cup with a dominant 5-0 victory over Latvia, as captain Harry Kane scored twice to maintain their perfect record in Group K.
Thomas Tuchel’s side have now won all six of their qualifying matches without conceding a goal and become the first European nation to officially book their place at next summer’s finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
At the tree-lined Daugava Stadium in Riga, it took England 25 minutes to open the scoring. Anthony Gordon cut in from the left and fired past Latvia goalkeeper Krisjanis Zviedris to settle any early nerves.
Kane then punished the hosts twice before the break. First, he pounced after Latvia were caught trying to play out from the back, and moments later he converted a penalty after being pulled back in the area. The goals took his England tally to 76.
After the break, Djed Spence’s cross was deflected into his own net by Maksims Tonisevs, and substitute Eberechi Eze completed the rout with a well-taken fifth late on.
The result means England top Group K with 18 points from six matches, scoring 18 goals and conceding none. Albania sit second with 11 points, followed by Serbia on 10 after their win over Andorra. Latvia remain on five.
“A top performance, a top result, six wins, six clean sheets, so very happy,” Tuchel said after the match. “Brilliant. Such a good mood in the dressing room. We have been dominant in games and hungry. We are on our way.”
Kane added: “Another tournament, we make it look easy but we have to fully focus on every game. It doesn’t matter who we play, it’s about setting a high standard and keeping the momentum.”
England’s defensive solidity has also been impressive, with Jordan Pickford forced into action just once all game to deny Eduards Daskevics and extend his own record with a ninth consecutive clean sheet.
England are now unbeaten in 37 consecutive World Cup qualifiers dating back to 2009. Including European Championship qualifiers, that unbeaten run stretches to 57 since 2015.
They will conclude their qualifying campaign in November with a home game against Serbia and an away trip to Albania.
