Tuchel hands out England debut and surprise start against Andorra

In partnership with

The Football Faithful

·6 September 2025

Tuchel hands out England debut and surprise start against Andorra

Thomas Tuchel has made some surprise selections in his England starting XI to face Andorra in Saturday’s FIFA World Cup qualifier.

Elliot Anderson has been handed his senior international debut and will play alongside Declan Rice in the middle of the park, pipping clubmate Morgan Gibbs-White.

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The Nottingham Forest midfielder played for Scotland at youth level before switching allegiance to the country of his birth, earning 12 caps with the U21s.

Former Manchester United attacker Marcus Rashford will make his first start for the Three Lions since the 2-0 win over Malta in November 2023, surprisingly getting the nod ahead of Newcastle United‘s Anthony Gordon on the right wing.

Dan Burn will form a central defensive partnership with Marc Guehi, despite the Magpies centre-back saying he believed he was in competition with the Crystal Palace captain for a starting role in the England team.

Myles Lewis-Skelly slots in a left-back despite not starting a game for Arsenal in the Premier League this season.

Tuchel insisted in his pre-match press conference on Friday that he would not be experimenting with lineup or resting players ahead of next week’s encounter with Serbia.

“There is no balance, the competition is on and it is World Cup season,” the German said.

He added: “We will not get caught up in experiments and everything that counts is today and tomorrow and then we will do our assessment after the match to see who is available.

Read – Thomas Tuchel discusses key England selection dilemma