Cold Baltic rain fell, drenching England’s supporters in an uncovered stand behind one of the goals. “Tuchel’s right, our fans are shite” and “1-0 to the library” they sang.
It was an ironic riposte to their manager after he questioned the atmosphere at Wembley, and in some ways it was good for Thomas Tuchel to face some opposition. Latvia were hardly able to provide it.
The planet’s 137th best team were washed away in Riga as, with a second successive 5-0 away win, England reached an eighth successive World Cup finals — and if they maintain these levels of performance they will have more than a chance there. This was a further continuation of the football seen in wins against Serbia and Wales, football full of belief and efficiency, speed and connectivity — and football far too good for inferior opposition.
Harry Kane broke another record — one previously held by Nat Lofthouse — in becoming the first England player to score two goals or more in 13 games, bringing his international tally to an extraordinary 76, with a brilliant strike from distance and typically deadly penalty.
Both goals came in the five minutes before half-time where, building on Anthony Gordon’s fine opener, England blasted Latvia away and during the interval, in tribute, the local stadium DJ played Sweet Caroline.
At full-time, Tuchel’s players stood in front of the England end, taking bows and thanking their hardy support, whose messages to Tuchel seemed more playful than pointed. Confidence in the manager and his side is growing.
And so it should. Kane was only one of that side’s outstanding performers, with Gordon and Elliot Anderson particularly catching the eye. What a component Anderson seems already: the tempo-regulating, aggressive-but-technical No6 England have lacked for years. Pairing him with Declan Rice is among the elements Tuchel has added to the team.
Gordon put England in front with a wonderful run and finish
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So is a new sense of freedom and confidence. It was seen in Djed Spence playing a cheeky rabona cross and in Eberechi Eze’s finish for England’s fifth goal.
That came in the 86th minute when, after gliding into the box, Eze checked inside two defenders and took his time before slamming an unstoppable shot beyond Krisjanis Zviedris.
With its railway track and line of trees running the length of the pitch on one side, the Daugava Stadium is no Maracana. In such a sedate little arena, the onus was on England to bring their own energy to the game, beginning with quick passing and movement and a commitment to press high and hard. Within a minute, Kane had the ball in the net — but was offside.
Eze completed the scoring as England eased to World Cup qualification
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The patterns were slick, John Stones, Anderson and Morgan Rogers moving the ball down the middle of the pitch and towards Gordon with minimal touches and excellent speed, and on the flanks there were the now-familiar Tuchel tropes: overloads, overlaps, cutbacks.
Kane should have scored from a Gordon centre and Anderson whistled a snap shot over the bar; an early goal seemed inevitable. But it didn’t come, and Latvia began packing their box and settling into their well-rehearsed deep block, presenting a test England had not tackled in a while.
It was one of patience and nerve. Could they stay sharp and bright against opponents versed in the art of frustration? In Tuchel’s early matches — including Latvia at home, when England did not go 2-0 up until the 68th minute — the team toiled in such situations.
Kane already has 21 goals for club and country this season
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Now they showed how far they have come. There were a couple of awkward moments, like Renars Varslavans delighting the locals by nutmegging Gordon, but England maintained their tempo and belief, and cracked open the game in the 26th minute.
They punished Latvia for a rare foray forward. An attempt by Varslavans to play Vladislavs Gutkovskis through was intercepted and Stones came into midfield in possession and put his arm up like a quarterback calling a play.
Gordon set off, with Stones spearing a glorious long pass to his feet to send him clear on the left. Gordon cut into the box and on to his right foot before bending a terrific finish into Zviedris’s far corner.
From seeming to have limited options on the left, suddenly it is becoming England’s strongest side, with Gordon’s ability to run diagonally in behind and become a second No 9 — backed up by his understudy, Marcus Rashford — bringing an extra dimension to the attack.
England fans made fun of Tuchel’s comments about their support on an enjoyable night for both parties
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Gordon almost scored again after taking a Rice pass into the box and squeezing a shot through a thicket of Latvians and just past the post. Then, again on the left, Rogers and Anderson exchanged neat, quick passes to play the Nottingham Forest midfielder into a shooting position — only for him to miscue.
One of England’s few concerns at that point was a seeming lack of match sharpness in Kane — who missed Thursday’s friendly against Wales through injury. However, England’s captain is a remarkable footballer, one of those true top competitors who are able to hang in there through fallow spells before suddenly raising their level when it matters.
Latvia were caught playing across the back a little too obviously and Bukayo Saka charged down Andrejs Ciganiks’s pass to provide Kane possession on the edge of the box. What came next was masterful, Kane stepping into the D and flashing a shot past Zviedris for his 75th international goal. Even now, we take the precision and consistency of his finishing for granted.
Only a superb, plunging stop by Zviedris stopped Kane scoring again with a header, but when the resulting corner kick came over, VAR identified a foul on England’s captain — Antonijs Cernomordijs pulling him back from behind. After a stuttering run-up, Kane drilled home the spot kick. More robo-finishing from England’s master-marksman.
England reached an eighth successive World Cup finals
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During half-time, the rain intensified but Latvia looked a little less bedraggled when their most talented player, the 22-year-old midfielder Lukass Vapne, cut inside to bend a lovely shot close from 20 yards.
Gutkovskis got in behind, too, only for Ezri Konsa to sprint back and, as the striker was about to shoot, dispossess him with a sliding tackle that was flawlessly executed and timed.
But 4-0 soon arrived. A minute after trying a rabona, Spence was in a crossing position again and this time delivered in an orthodox way. Zviedris flung himself to meet it, palming the ball over Rice but onto the legs of Maxims Tonisevs, whose view was obscured. It bounced off the substitute’s shins and into the net.
After, it was substitutions time. First Jordan Henderson, Eze and Jarrod Bowen replaced Saka, Rogers and Rice. Then Rashford and Dan Burn came on for Gordon and Stones. The non-contest became even less of a contest, then, drifting towards full-time with very much a training-game feel.
“The library” still cheered away merrily, though. They’re going to another World Cup with England. This time?
Latvia (5-3-1-1): K Zviedris — A Ciganiks, R Veips, A Cernomordijs, D Balodis, R Jurkovskis (M Tonisevs 46min) — R Varslavans (E Daskevics 66), L Vapne (A Saveljevs 73), D Zelenkovs — J Ikaunieks (K Grabovskis 88) — V Gutkovskis (M Regza 73). Booked Balodis, Cernomordijs, Ciganiks, Regza.
England (4-2-3-1): J Pickford — D Spence, E Konsa, J Stones (D Burn 71), M Lewis-Skelly — E Anderson, D Rice (J Henderson 60) — B Saka (J Bowen 60), M Rogers (E Eze 60), A Gordon (M Rashford 71) — H Kane. Booked Konsa.
Referee A Sidiropoulos (Gr).