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Thomas Tuchel had demanded a convincing win and a performance without doubts. The England manager wanted to suffocate Andorra in this World Cup qualifier; to see his team attack cohesively, to unpick the low block of the nation that sits 173rd in the world rankings. So much for the wishlist.
This was the end-of-season game that Tuchel had tried to talk up, mainly because he has so few matches to drill his players before the finals next summer. He was keen to see some energy. And yet his words failed to stir very much. Yes, England won, as they always do against Andorra. Yes, they did so without conceding, as they always do against Andorra. And yes, it is now three wins out of three for Tuchel, with no goals against. But it was not possible to get excited.
The first half was dross, boring, leading Tuchel to experience a first at an early point of his tenure – his team being booed off. And the second period was only lifted by the goal, scored by Harry Kane after a Noni Madueke cross. Curtis Jones had ignited the move. It was Kane’s 72nd England goal on the occasion of his 106th cap; he is now equal seventh on the all-time appearance list with Sir Bobby Charlton and Frank Lampard.
Andorra offered next to nothing. Their goal was merely to frustrate, which they absolutely accomplished. And yet there was the moment on 76 minutes when the substitute, Guillaume López, almost got in. The Inter Club d’Escaldes player was crowded out by Ezri Konsa. Can you imagine if he had somehow scored?
England looked as though they wanted to be anywhere but here. They barely got out of second gear. It was a match for them simply to tick off, which they did. There would be further boos for them upon the full-time whistle.
Tuchel had promised to “try something,” to create a structure that allowed his team to break Andorra down and his idea at the outset involved only three recognised defenders. Jones was nominally the right-back but Tuchel wanted him up in midfield when England had the ball – which was always likely to be for the vast majority of proceedings.
With Jordan Henderson stationed in front of the defence on his first England start since November 2023, Jones had licence to work around the two advanced central midfielders – Jude Bellingham and Cole Palmer. In possession, it was broadly 3-1-5-1, although Kane still wanted to drop deep from the No 9 position. It was all so cluttered.
Andorra were most resolutely 5-4-1. Their mission? To defend for their honour. It was incumbent on England to make their class tell and they laboured to do so. Tuchel had demanded hunger and intensity but it was slow and predictable, Andorra largely keeping England in front of them, which was where they wanted them.
Tuchel’s players did not move the ball with any incision. There were far too many moments of sloppiness. And it was bizarre to see how heavy some of the players’ touches were. Example: when Jones seized upon a Madueke cross fizzed across the six-yard box in the 19th minute that Kane had been unable to convert. Jones allowed it to bounce off him, although he did recover to dig it back for Kane, who shot wide. If that gets a mention, it was because it was England’s only real chance of the first half.
It was unfair to shine a light on Jones because he was probably England’s best player – together with Madueke. Palmer made a fistful of errors, the ball repeatedly getting away from him and, as the minutes ticked down to half-time, the question came to concern whether the England fans would jeer their team off. They did not disappoint.
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The game was played here at Espanyol’s stadium in Barcelona because Andorra’s new ground is not yet finished and there were about 7,000 England supporters in attendance. Which, given the 40,000 capacity, made it a strange scene.
There were not many Andorrans, although they did have a loud band. “You’re supposed to be at home,” chorused the England fans. It was one of those days when the chants were worth noting, mainly because of the dearth of action on the pitch. The England fans had a few extremely
uncomplimentary ones about the prime minister, Keir Starmer.
Tuchel had warned that patience would be required. He reminded everyone beforehand that Spain had only been 1-0 up after 53 minutes in their friendly against Andorra last June. The breakthrough goal was a relief and it followed a lovely slide-rule pass from Jones into Kane. Jones was in what Tuchel would call the half-space. Kane stretched to unload the shot, which was saved by Iker Álvarez. But when Madueke returned the ball from the left, Kane had the tap-in.
Tuchel gave minutes off the bench to a clutch of players, the first changes being Trent Alexander-Arnold at right-back and Eberechi Eze on the left wing. It failed to elicit much of a reaction. Eze had a header tipped over and Madueke almost got in after a stoppage-time counter only the angle was too tight. It was all so instantly forgettable.
