Some big names in Europe and Africa face a nervy run-in, while Asia and the Americas have gone as expected
I
t’s been telling how much of the coverage around England recently has focused on how they must improve before the World Cup finals next summer. It’s true, of course: they’ve been in the final of the last two Euros, played well in getting to the quarter-final of the last World Cup and have a fleet of extremely gifted players but have not really impressed since beating Greece in the Nations League under Lee Carsley last November.
What’s never considered, though, is the thought that they may not get to the 2026 World Cup at all.
England travel to face Serbia on Tuesday, having won four out of four without conceding a goal. But three of those four games have been at home and two of them have been against Andorra. They still have to go not only to Belgrade but also to Tirana to face Albania. Serbia could only draw away there, which offers a little breathing space, but were England to lose on Tuesday, they would be under pressure. The home game against Serbia in November could end up as a shootout for who takes the group’s sole automatic qualification slot and who is forced into the playoffs. It’s a jeopardy to which England as a whole, having not missed out on a World Cup since the last one staged in the USA, in 1994, have perhaps not quite adjusted.
