England 2–0 Albania: Kane & Stones hit milestones as Three Lions finish World Cup qualifying with perfect record | OneFootball

England beat Albania 2-0 on Sunday to finish their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign with a flawless record.

Manager Thomas Tuchel made seven changes to the side that started the 2-0 win over Serbia on Friday.

John Stones kept his place in the starting XI, making his 87th appearance for the Three Lions – becoming the defender with the fifth-most caps for England.

England flew out of the blocks, with Declan Rice forcing goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha to make the game’s first save.

The Arsenal midfielder also flashed an effort wide in the early stages, following a brilliant piece of play from Jude Bellingham.

Strakosha made another superb stop to keep out Jarrod Bowen’s effort. The Albanian goalkeeper was equal to the task again, denying Jarrel Quansah from the resultant corner.

Dean Henderson had nothing to do in the first half, but was called into action moments after the restart, dealing comfortably with Qazim Laci’s flick.

The Crystal Palace goalie made another superb stop, stretching to keep out Arber Hoxha’s powerful attempt.

After the hosts’ strong start to the second half, England finally regrouped to take control of the game.

Bellingham picked out Eberechi Eze, whose effort was pushed behind by Strakosha before the Real Madrid star volleyed over just after the hour mark.

Harry Kane eventually opened the scoring, capitalising on Strakosha’s failure to deal with Saka’s cross to put the ball home.

The Bayern Munich striker sealed the victory for England, leaping highest to meet Marcus Rashford’s cross and heading it into the back of the net.

Kane has now scored 40 goals in qualifying matches for major tournaments since the 2020 European Championship qualifiers, the most of any player in that period.