England breeze through to World Cup finals, now for the hard part

LONDON :Eight games, eight wins, 22 goals scored and none conceded: England head coach Thomas Tuchel could not have wished for a more emphatic way to reach the World Cup finals.

But now the hard part begins.

When England were bunched with Serbia, Albania, Latvia and Andorra in Group K, the odds on them not topping the section would have been colossal, especially as England have not lost a World Cup qualifier since 2009.

That they did so with a 100 per cent record and became the first European nation to win every game of a qualification group of six matches or more without conceding a goal was impressive.

But those statistics will be forgotten if England fall short next year in North America where they will be amongst a handful of the 48 nations with a genuine chance of being crowned world champions, in England's case for the first time since 1966.

Tuchel, tasked with getting England over the line after two European Championship runners-up finishes and a World Cup semi-final under predecessor Gareth Southgate, could hardly wipe the smile off his face after the final whistle in Tirana on Sunday where England beat Albania 2-0.

But the former Paris St Germain, Chelsea and Bayern Munich coach will know that far sterner tests await.

England have consistently been found wanting against the big guns when it matters: Spain in last year's Euros final, Italy in the 2021 Euros final, France in the 2022 World Cup quarter-final and Croatia in the 2018 World Cup semi-final.

England's record goalscorer Harry Kane, who netted both against Albania, described the current squad as probably the best it has ever been and he has a point.

TUCHEL HAS DEEP SQUAD

Tuchel has an enviable array of creative talent at his disposal with even the likes of Phil