Thomas Tuchel has guided England to the 2026 World Cup — but that might be the easy bit. Having negotiated a routine qualifying campaign with minimum fuss and booked a berth at next summer’s tournament with last night’s 5-0 win against Latvia, Tuchel’s focus will turn to the far more complicated task of choosing England’s 26-man squad.

England qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Tuesday with a 5-0 win over Latvia at Daugava Stadium. This is the 17th time England has qualified for the World Cup, first appearing in 1950.

Thomas Tuchel and England have secured safe passage to next summer’s World Cup finals with two qualifiers to spare.

Thomas Tuchel's side will play at their eighth consecutive major tournament, having last missed out on the Euros in 2008

England has become the first country from Europe to qualify for the 2026 World Cup but Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal will have to wait after conceding a stoppage-time equalizer against Hungary.

England made light work of Latvia with a 5-0 win in Riga to qualify for the 2026 World Cup finals. But who impressed most for Thomas Tuchel’s men and what are each player’s chances of making it into the German’s starting XI for the tournament next year?

Now England have booked their place at the 2026 World Cup attention turns to how they might fare in North America next summer - and how some of their rivals are looking.