Andorra 0 – 1 England

Harry Kane scored the only goal as lacklustre England laboured to a 1-0 World Cup qualifying win over Andorra.

It’s three wins from three for Thomas Tuchel’s side in Group K but this was an underwhelming step on the road to the World Cup.

England’s struggles to break through the defences of their 173rd-ranked opponents will have done little to convince observers of their credentials to go on and win the tournament next summer.

They were booed off by some of their supporters inside the sparsely populated Espanyol stadium at half-time and although Kane eventually converted from close range soon after the interval, there was little in the way of entertainment served up to the Three Lions fans who had made the trip to Spain. Disgruntled, they made their feelings clear again at full-time.

Noni Madueke supplied Kane for that easy finish and the Chelsea winger was the only player to really further their prospects under Tuchel, adding some speed and purpose to an otherwise second-gear display. He should have marked his performance with a late tap-in but instead tried to pass to Anthony Gordon.

There were poor touches and off-target passes as a disjointed England put in a disjointed first-half performance – and that lack of verve and precision continued through the contest. Curtis Jones was out of sorts as makeshift right-back, Dan Burn off the pace and Cole Palmer largely ineffective.

Jude Bellingham and Morgan Rogers showed flashes of their quality and sub Eberechi Eze had a header tipped over late on but England were badly missing a spark in the final third against determined and well-organised opposition. That is a familiar issue from the past Euros campaign.

There was even a bit of fortune for England that Ricard Fernandez or Guillaume Lopez didn’t capitalise on a couple of dangerous positions Andorra worked their way into during the second half. That could have turned a frustrating evening in to an alarming one.

The high temperatures in Barcelona didn’t help the spectacle, with England’s play lacking tempo as well as inspiration at times. The scheduling of the game, at the end of the season is another caveat.

But while this was a different scenario entirely, England’s level was miles away from the performances potential World Cup rivals Spain, France, Germany and Portugal have produced this past week in the Nations League semi-finals. They have significant strides to make before next summer if they want to deliver tournament-winning performances in the heat of a North American World Cup.

Tuchel: We lacked quality, urgency and energy

England manager Thomas Tuchel on ITV:

“We’re not happy with the performance, of course. We started quite well in the first 20 or 25 minutes, but that was the only time it felt like it was only a matter of time. We created a lot of chances, half-chances and set pieces, and it felt like we were going to score and keep on going.

“But we completely lost our momentum and couldn’t get it back from the whole of the first half. We got a little bit in the first 15 minutes of the second, but then ended up in a period which was by far not good enough.

“There was a lack of urgency, quality and energy.”

Kane: We kept giving it away

England captain Harry Kane to ITV:

“For sure, we can play better. It wasn’t our greatest performance, not a lot of people will remember it but we can learn from it. It’s very hot, a dry pitch, very similar conditions to the World Cup next year.

“We’ll go away and analyse, we had good spells in the game but we couldn’t consistently have attack after attack. We take the points and move on.

“We weren’t good enough on the ball, there weren’t enough forward passes and the most important thing is we kept giving it away. That gave them confidence and energy. At 1-0 with five or 10 minutes to go you have to be careful, because it’s an important game to get three points in.”

Analysis: Tuchel left with more questions than answers

Sky Sports News’ Rob Dorsett in Barcelona:

“Tuchel tinkered but he leaves Barcelona with more questions than answers. For me, he overcomplicated it, with so many players out of position. England lacked energy and invention, and but for the brilliant Madueke, it might have been much worse. It was he who pestered and probed, until his perfect cross found Kane sliding in at the back post for England’s only goal.

“Credit Andorra, who defended brilliantly, but England asked far too few questions of them over 90 minutes. Tuchel will have some difficult questions to answer. And he will have to admit he got this one wrong.

“A 1-0 victory over the fourth-worst team in the whole of Europe is tantamount to an embarrassment. And the England support let the players know exactly how they felt at the final whistle.”

Keane questions England attitude

Sky Sports’ Roy Keane on ITV:

“We try to make excuses for England but I thought when they scored the goal they felt it was job done. I was really disappointed with their attitude when they scored. The manager can’t be happy with the effort in the last half hour.

“Overall, particularly in the second half, the attitude wasn’t great.”

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