Bukayo Saka’s 28th-minute volley and Eberechi Eze’s curling strike during the final minute of regular time gave England a 2026 World Cup qualifying victory over Serbia in their closing home match of 2025.
Bukayo SAKA! 🏴⚽️
It’s a BRILLIANT finish from the Arsenal man 💥#ITVFootball | #ThreeLions | @England pic.twitter.com/T7glMUkNsH
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) November 13, 2025
Saka arrowed in the opener from inside the box to put the Three Lions, who had already qualified for the finals in the US, Canada and Mexico, on course for their seventh win of a perfect campaign.
Eberechi Eze scores again for England! ⚽️⚽️🏴
What a strike. Job done for the Three Lions 🦁#ITVFootball | #ThreeLions pic.twitter.com/hhtES5vCho
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) November 13, 2025
Fellow Arsenal forward Eze prodded a shot against the woodwork in the 87th minute via Serbia goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic before finding the far corner of the net with an accomplished finish after Phil Foden surged clear from the halfway line.
England vs Serbia: World Cup stroll for hosts
England’s 5-0 win in Serbia on September 9 was their finest performance since Thomas Tuchel took charge at the start of the year.
While this encounter was not quite of that vintage or eventfulness, the manager felt his side should have had a second goal before the break.
“I liked it,” Tuchel told ITV Football in his assessment. “Not every game is easy. We got a little too open [late on] – I need to check why.”
England starting lineup vs Serbia
Manchester City’s Nico O’Reilly made his first England start, with Jude Bellingham on the bench and Morgan Rogers starting in midfield.
England were without goalkeeper Nick Pope, winger Anthony Gordon and centre-back Marc Guehi through injury, although the Crystal Palace captain remained with the squad.
Manchester City goalkeeper James Trafford and Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah received late call-ups.
England starting XI: Jordan Pickford, Reece James, Ezri Konsa, John Stones, Nico O’Reilly, Bukayo Saka, Elliot Anderson, Morgan Rogers, Declan Rice, Marcus Rashford, Harry Kane
England substitutes: James Trafford, Trevoh Chalobah, Jordan Henderson, Jude Bellingham, Dan Burn, Dean Henderson, Djed Spence, Adam Wharton, Phil Foden, Eberechi Eze, Jarrod Bowen, Jarell Quansah
Serbia starting lineup vs England
Serbia were without Al-Rayyan striker Aleksandar Mitrovic – the nation’s record scorer – through injury, with Juventus’ Dusan Vlahovic leading the line.
Serbia starting XI: Predrag Rajkovic, Strahinja Pavlovic, Nikola Milenkovic, Aleksa Terzic, Ognjen Mimovic, Ivan Ilic, Nemanja Gudelj, Sasa Lukic, Filip Kostic, Andrija Zivkovic, Dusan Vlahovic
Serbia substitutes: Djordje Petrovic, Marko Grujic, Nemanja Radonjic, Luka Jovic, Aleksandar Katai, Veljko Ilic, Milos Veljkovic, Veljko Milosavljevic, Strahinja Erakovic, Luka Ilic, Aleksandar Stankovic, Lazar Samardzic
England squad vs Serbia and Albania
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), James Trafford (Manchester City)
Defenders: Dan Burn (Newcastle), Trevoh Chalobah (Chelsea), Reece James (Chelsea), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Nico O’Reilly (Man City), Jarell Quansah (Bayer Leverkusen), Djed Spence (Tottenham), John Stones (Man City)
Midfielders: Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Jordan Henderson (Brentford), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Morgan Rogers (Villa), Alex Scott (Bournemouth), Adam Wharton (Palace)
Forwards: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Eberechi Eze (Arsenal), Phil Foden (Man City), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Marcus Rashford (Barcelona, loan from Manchester United), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
England football team World Cup qualifying fixtures
Friday, March 21: England 2-0 Albania
Monday, March 24: England 3-0 Latvia
Saturday, June 7: Andorra 0-1 England
Saturday, September 6: England 2-0 Andorra
Tuesday, September 9: Serbia 0-5 England
Tuesday, October 14: Latvia 0-5 England
Thursday, November 13: England 2-0 Serbia
Sunday, November 16: Albania vs England (17:00)
England: World Cup 2026 qualifying path
The top team from each of the 12 European Qualifier groups proceeds automatically to the finals, which will be expanded to 48 teams.
The 12 runners-up in each group will join four Nations League teams in the play-offs, which will be drawn from pots based on teams’ records during the campaign. The games will comprise single-leg semi-finals and finals.
The draw for the World Cup finals will take place in December 2025. The tournament runs from June 11 until July 19 2026.
