England head to the Daugava Stadium on Tuesday to face Latvia in their latest 2026 World Cup qualifier.
The hosts will be aiming to get back on track after suffering back-to-back defeats, while their visitors will set out to preserve their unbeaten qualifying record.
England preview
England have a seven-point gap at the top of Group K with five matches left.
The Three Lions made light work of Wales en route to a 3-0 triumph in Thursday’s friendly meeting at Wembley Stadium.
England will now head to Riga in search of a double over Latvia after a 3-0 win in their first-ever meeting back earlier this year. Reece James, Harry Kane and Eberechi Eze got the goals.
Having conceded just once in their last nine matches across all competitions, Tuesday’s visitors have been rock-solid at the back. They will be confident of keeping their upcoming opponents at bay.
Latvia preview
After kicking off their World Cup qualifying campaign with a 1-0 victory at Andorra, Latvia have since failed to win any of their subsequent five outings.
Kristjan Asllani’s penalty was enough to condemn Paolo Nicolato’s men to a second 1-0 defeat in a row to leave them fourth in Group K, three points behind third-place Serbia and four behind Albania in second.
With Serbia and Albania set to meet tomorrow, Latvia will have an opportunity to close the gap on at least one of them when they face Andorra.
Tuesday’s hosts will need to up the ante at the top end of the pitch if they are to stand any chance of securing a play-off spot, with automatic qualification all but out of the question.
Team News
Harry Kane did not feature for England against Wales, but he is expected to be fit enough to play a part in Latvia.
Bukayo Saka wrapped up the scoring for England last time out to become the Arsenal player with the most goals for England in history.
With four goals in his last six matches at club level, Latvian striker Marko Regza is a man in form and will be looking to deliver the goods.
Since breaking into the hosts’ top 10 for all-time goals, Janis Ikaunieks has endured a lengthy international goal drought spanning the best part of two years.
Latvia Predicted XI (5-4-1): Zviedris; Ciganiks, Balodis, Cernomordijs, Melniks, Jurkovskis; Daskevics, Vapne, Zelenkovs, Varslavans; Sits.
England Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Lewis-Skelly, Guehi, Stones, Konsa; Rice, Anderson; Saka, Eze, Rogers; Kane.
