After the excitement of last weekend’s Carabao Cup final – which saw Newcastle United win their first domestic trophy in 70 years – this weekend English club football is pausing for an international break. And these coming March fixtures are big ones for the England men’s senior team.
The two Three Lions fixtures on Friday (March 21) and Monday (March 24) will be new manager Thomas Tuchel’s first games in charge since he took over in January. Tuchel has been tasked with winning the next World Cup, which will take place in Canada, Mexico and the USA in 2026, and the coming games are qualifiers for the tournament.
Tuchel will be hoping for a blistering start. England’s senior men’s team is currently rated the fourth-best in the entire world by FIFA, while Albania are 65th and Latvia are 140th. Both games are also on home turf at Wembley.
Excited to see how England shape up under Tuchel? Here’s everything you need to know about watching the Three Lions play Albania and Latvia in the World Cup qualifiers.
What channel is England v Albania on?
England v Albania will be on ITV1, with online streaming coverage on ITVX.
What channel is England v Latvia on?
England v Latvia will also be on ITV1 and ITVX for streaming.
What time does coverage start?
Coverage for both games starts at 7pm.
How to watch online
You can watch both games online through ITVX here.
Kick off time
Here are the kick-off times:
- England v Albania – March 21, 7.45pm
- England v Latvia – March 24, 7.45pm
England squad
Tuchel’s first squad was notable for including call-ups for Dan Burn, fresh from his heroics for Newcastle in last weekend’s Carabao Cup, Jordan Henderson and Myles Lewis-Skelly. Here’s the full squad available to face Albania and Latvia.
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson, Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale, James Trafford
Defenders: Dan Burn, Levi Colwill, Marc Guéhi, Reece James, Ezri Konsa, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Tino Livramento, Jarell Quansah, Kyle Walker
Midfielders: Jude Bellingham, Eberechi Eze, Jordan Henderson, Curtis Jones, Cole Palmer, Declan Rice, Morgan Rogers, Morgan Gibbs-White
Forwards: Jarrod Bowen, Phil Foden, Anthony Gordon, Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Dominic Solanke
Head to head history, timeline and results
Here’s England’s record against both teams.
Albania
England have never lost (or even drawn) to Albania in six previous meetings. Here’s the timeline.
- March 8 1989: Albania 0, England 2
- April 26 1989, England 5, Albania 0
- March 28 2001: Albania 1, England 3
- September 5 2001: England 2, Albania 0
- March 28 2021: Albania 0, England 2
- November 12 2021: England 5, Albania 0
Latvia
Excitingly, England and Latvia’s men’s teams have never previously faced each other.
Back in 2021 in a meeting of the women’s teams, England won 20-0 against Latvia and set a national record for their largest victory in a senior international football match.
England fixtures for FIFA World Cup 2026 qualification
England are in Group K for World Cup qualification, meaning they’ll face Serbia, Albania, Latvia and Andorra. Here are the fixtures.
- March 21: England v Albania
- March 24: England v Latvia
- June 7: Andorra v England
- September 6: England v Andorra
- September 9: Serbia v England
- October 14: Latvia v England
- November 13: England v Serbia
- November 16: Albania v England
The Three Lions also have two international friendlies currently scheduled for 2025 against Senegal (June 10) and Wales (October 9).
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