Aston Villa stars respond to Ezri Konsa’s message – ‘I’ll never forget this’
Ezri Konsa did his chances of becoming England’s starting centre-back no harm in their 5-0 victory over Serbia.
Aston Villa‘s number four has been a regular under Gareth Southgate, Lee Carsley and Thomas Tuchel since making his debut for the Three Lions early in 2024, with Konsa in his seventh season at Villa Park.
England have won five from five so far in their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign and Tuchel’s side took things up a notch against Serbia, producing their best performance of his tenure by some distance.
Noni Madueke dazzled to score his first England goal after Harry Kane had given the Three Lions a first-half lead, but the Arsenal winger was only the first of three players to open their international accounts.
Ezri Konsa achieves childhood dream after Thomas Tuchel doubts
Marc Guehi and Konsa had been tipped to be England centre-backs for this month’s qualifying matches against Andorra and Serbia, but the latter was left on the bench for the first game, held at Villa Park.
Tuchel was criticised for starting Dan Burn against Andorra with the towering Newcastle defender set to turn 34 before next summer’s World Cup, but the German reverted to Konsa and Guehi to face Serbia.
That decision paid off as both defenders netted their maiden England goals from a pair of second-half corners, and Konsa posted on Instagram to celebrate his milestone after Marcus Rashford made it 5-0.
In his post at full-time, Konsa said: “What a feeling! A night I’ll never forget and something I’ve dreamt about since being a child. First goal for my country and a team win to be proud of”.
Several Villa players congratulates Konsa, with the similarly impressive Morgan Rogers saying; “So happy for my brother”, and Ross Barkley adding another comment to say “love it lad”.
England win provides more questions than answers for Tuchel
Football Insider Verdict
Konsa wasn’t the only outsider to stake their claims over the international break, with Nottingham Forest star Elliot Anderson now seen as “undroppable” for England after back-to-back displays in the midfield.
The nucleus of Tuchel’s side for the 2026 World Cup is slowly taking shape despite the absences of Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka and Cole Palmer, with England haemorraging options in the final third.
At the back, things are much clearer for Tuchel with Guehi’s place already secure in central defence, and Konsa has certainly moved above Burn and John Stones in the battle to partner Guehi across the pond.