Myles Lewis-Skelly stinks – England’s three winners and three losers from win vs Andorra
England maintained their 100% win record in qualifying for the 2026 World Cup with a 2-0 win against minnows Andorra at Villa Park.
England predictably began the game on top as Andorra sat back, and they took the lead in the 25th minute as Christian Garcia headed the ball into his own net from a teasing Noni Madueke cross.
Thomas Tuchel‘s side could have doubled their lead with two separate chances shortly after the break, but Iker Alvarez denied both Eberechi Eze and Elliot Anderson with some fine saves.
Declan Rice then found a second for the hosts not long after the hour mark, as he met Reece James’ delivery at the back post to nod home for the sixth Three Lions goal of his career.
England might have added to their tally through late opportunities for Morgan Gibbs-White and Harry Kane, but it ended 2-0 on Saturday (6 September) in a well-deserved, but uninspiring, win for Tuchel’s men.
England’s three winners
Noni Madueke
Quality. Madueke was a threat all afternoon for England as he raced past his opposite number Moises San Nicolas on a number of occasions before trying to set up his fellow attackers.
He created the most chances in the game (2) and forced the error from Garcia for England’s opener, and will certainly have thrust himself further into Tuchel’s plans in the absence of Bukayo Saka.
Madueke joined Arsenal from Chelsea this summer and will want to prove that he can continue to start at club level, with Saka still injured, and he will have done his chances of that no harm if Mikel Arteta was watching on.
Elliot Anderson
Anderson made his England debut against Andorra, but he played with the guile and nous of an experienced, top-quality midfielder at Villa Park.
The Nottingham Forest star always aimed to play the ball forwards, which is more than can be said for many Three Lions players in recent times, and he finished the tie with 93 passes completed, two tackles won out of two and 14 ball recoveries [Fotmob]. Seriously impressive.
Reece James
England’s starting right-back conundrum has been spoken about for a number of years due to the plethora of great options available, but James seems the most likely player to nail down the position ahead of the World Cup.
This game will have made his case to start more regularly grow even stronger, as he created two big chances, with one his brilliant crossed assist for Rice’s goal, while he also drew two fouls and won five of his six duels [Fotmob].
England’s three losers
Harry Kane
England captain Kane was ineffective and lacklustre against a low-block that needed to be penetrated much more if his side were to take a commanding lead and really stamp their authority down in Group K.
The Bayern Munich man had the least touches of any outfield player to play 90 minutes, while his two shots mustered a poor xG of just 0.04 [Fotmob]. He had scored in his previous five outings for his country, but was absolutely miles off it here.
Myles Lewis-Skelly
Lewis-Skelly was handed a chance to start at left-back for his country against Andorra, but he did not grab the opportunity with both hands and seemed nervous against a team that provided very little in the way of attacking threat.
The Arsenal youngster needs to perform much better to nail down his position ahead of potentially being on the plane to the World Cup, especially with strong competition from Djed Spence and Lewis Hall, and it would not be a shock to see the former handed his England debut against Serbia in the next game.
Morgan Rogers
Aston Villa man Rogers entered his club’s home pitch with twenty minutes to go to loud cheers from sections of the England fans, but he may have let that pressure to perform in the Second City get to him, as well as the pressure to do something to make it into the starting eleven for the Serbia clash.
His touch was poor and he struggled to get into the game, which was a stark contract to fellow substitute Anthony Gordon, who was massively impressive, while the likes of Marcus Rashford, Madueke and Eze all outplayed Rogers, making him a loser in this clash.