LONDON: England continued their flawless march toward the FIFA World Cup 2026 with a composed 2-0 win over Serbia at Wembley Stadium on Thursday. Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze delivered the decisive goals, while star midfielder Jude Bellingham featured only as a late substitute.
Already qualified for the World Cup, England made it seven straight Group K victories — all without conceding a single goal. Despite their earlier goal-scoring spree of 13 goals in three matches, this outing was more controlled, with head coach Thomas Tuchel’s decision to bench Bellingham becoming the biggest talking point.
Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers was preferred in the attacking midfield role, earning the starting spot over Bellingham. The Real Madrid midfielder returned to action with 26 minutes remaining, having missed England’s previous matches due to injury and tactical decisions.
Rogers, who performed impressively in recent wins over Wales and Latvia, again looked sharp. Tuchel, however, cautioned recently that Bellingham would have to earn his place ahead of the World Cup.
Reports earlier suggested Bellingham’s intense on-field personality had created friction within the squad. Tuchel even issued a public apology after revealing the midfielder’s mother disliked some aspects of his behavior.
England will now travel to Albania for their final qualifier, after which Tuchel has only two friendlies to finalize his World Cup squad.
Tuchel’s impact has been evident, especially after England’s 5-0 away win in Serbia in September — a turning point in England’s tactical resurgence. Since then, England have cruised through their qualifying campaign with dominant performances, including a resounding win over Latvia to confirm their World Cup spot.
In Thursday’s match, Saka opened the scoring in the 28th minute. Serbian keeper Predrag Rajkovic parried Declan Rice’s free-kick into the path of Nico O’Reilly, whose blocked shot fell to Saka. The Arsenal winger calmly volleyed into the far corner for his 14th England goal.
O’Reilly later struck the post, while Harry Kane missed a close-range header as England pushed for a second. Serbia nearly equalized after the break, but Dusan Vlahovic’s back-heel rolled just wide.
Tuchel introduced Phil Foden as a central striker in the second half, replacing Kane, alongside Bellingham. The substitutes combined brilliantly in stoppage time as Bellingham fed Foden, who set up Eberechi Eze for a stunning top-corner finish from the edge of the box, securing England’s seventh consecutive clean-sheet win of the qualifiers.
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