England manager Thomas Tuchel has described the Three Lions’ demolishing of Serbia in Belgrade as a statement victory for his team.
England delivered a hammering of the Serbs away from home with a 5-0 win to take firm control at the summit of Group K in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers with 15 points.
In five games, England have scored 13 goals and are yet to concede; Albania rank second in the group with eight points which is a point more than what third ranked Serbia have.
With the game being played in a country that has an extensive record of racist acts, it was quite telling that four of England’s goal scorers (Marcus Rashford, Noni Madueke, Marc Guehi, Ezri Konsa) were black players.
Speaking in a post-game presser as quoted by the BBC, Thomas Tuchel was excited about the win after England delivered a limp 2-0 win over Andorra at Villa Park.
“Today is a statement victory against a difficult opponent in a difficult environment. I think it was the teamwork, the team performance – we helped each other out. There was no negative attitude on the pitch, no frustration on the pitch.”
“For me, it was teamwork in it’s purest form. Then we played football to a high level and got a deserved win.
Nottingham Forest defender Nikola Milenkovic was shown a red card in the 72nd minute when England led 3-0.
