The England men’s senior team kicked-off their European Qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup this week, with two games at Wembley Stadium against Albania and Latvia.
And it was a successful start to new head coach Thomas Tuchel’s reign as the Three Lions made it two wins from two with a 2-0 victory over Albania on Friday before a 3-0 result in our first-ever senior meeting with Latvia.
Thomas’ warm Wembley welcome
The new boss had spoken in the build-up to the game on how he’s missed the feeling of leading a team out and his anticipation of doing it at Wembley. And he was given a rapturous welcome by a sold-out crowd at the national stadium, with a large banner unfurled in the home end which was delivered by members of the Atmosphere Working Group, a sub-section of the England Supporters Travel Club with over 250 members. Members voted on messaging ideas, with 20 members of the Atmosphere Working Group proudly displaying it in front of the home end during the national anthem.
Celebrating Lord Ouseley
Tuesday’s game co-incided with what would’ve been the late Lord Herman Ouseley’s 80th birthday, so along with Kick It Out, the game was dedicated to his memory following his passing last October. Lord Ouseley was instrumental in the creation of Kick It Out, and served as chair for 25 years. He was an unrelenting advocate for underrepresented and disadvantaged communities, and his legacy continues to shape the game today. Ahead of the game, a new documentary commissioned by Kick It Out was played on the big screen at Wembley on Monday and will also air on Sky Sports. The ten-minute film is aimed at educating a new generation of football fans and players about Lord Ouseley’s impact on the game.
Legacy cap presentations
The England men’s senior legacy cap programme was unveiled earlier this month, and these games saw the first set of presentations to some of our former players. On a special evening on Monday, legacy caps were presented to Viv Anderson, the first Black player to play for the England men’s team and Luther Blissett, the first Black player to score in a men’s England shirt and the family of Ron Spriggett in a ceremony at Wembley ahead of the match. Our Chair Debbie Hewitt MBE led the presentation and was joined by Kick It Out Chair, Sanjay Bhandari. Three days earlier on Friday, Sir Geoff Hurst received his legacy cap while the families of former Three Lions heroes Alan Ball, George Eastham and Tommy Lawton were present to receive their caps.
Royal Box report
The Royal Box at Wembley also had a number of special guests across both games, with representatives from the federations of both Albania and Latvia while the FA also hosting the president of the Grenada FA and a group of dignitaries from the Kyrgyz Republic FA were guests of the FA. Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner and Eagles director of U23 youth development Mark Bright were also in the crowd, no doubt keen on seeing how their representatives in the England squad performed with Marc Guehi starting and Eberechi Eze scoring his first England goal after coming on as second-half substitute.
First-time fans celebrate Wembley win
We welcomed a group of lucky fans from across the country to Wembley on Friday, to experience their first live England game. Among the 82,000 fans in attendance were partners Tanisha (27) and Sophie (23) from Manchester, and best friends Harbinder and Jagjit (both 32) from Birmingham, who were invited along to experience the roar within the hallowed walls of Wembley for the first time. Siblings Lilac (10) and Leo’s (9) eyes opened wide with amazement as they looked out onto the Wembley football pitch for the very first time alongside their dad Barry (45), while lifetime friends Steve (70) and Ian (73) travelled from Bishop Auckland and joyously celebrated their very first live England goal together. Otis (46), from Leicester, cheered on the Three Lions with his three teenage children (18 and twins, 14), none of whom had seen the national team play in-person before. You can watch the video of them all above.
