England's World Cup qualifying opponents factfile

The draw for the European Qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup took place in Zurich on Friday morning, with England drawn out in Group K, alongside Serbia, Albania, Latvia and Andorra.

With fixtures due to be start in March 2025, incoming Three Lions head coach Thomas Tuchel now knows what lies ahead for his team as the quest to reach the next World Cup Finals in North America kicks-off.

The group will see a first-ever senior team meeting with Latvia, while previous rivalries with Serbia, Albania and Andorra will be renewed.

Take a look at some of the details around each nation below, along with a reminder of our record against them.

SERBIA

Head coach: Dragan Stojkovic
FIFA World ranking: 32
FIFA World Cup best: [as Yugoslavia] Quarter-finals [1954, 1958 and 1990]
UEFA EURO 2024 performance: Group stage
2023 FIFA World Cup performance: Group stage
Last meeting: Serbia 0-1 England [Gelsenkirchen], UEFA EURO 2024, 16 June 2024
Match dates: Serbia v England, 7.45pm BST, Tuesday 9 September 2025 & England v Serbia, 7.45pm GMT, Thursday 13 November 2025
Serbia finished third in League A4 of the 2024-25 UEFA Nations League, which means they will be facing a play-off against Austria in March 2025.

The last meeting between England and Serbia was at EURO 2024, won 1-0 by England via a Jude Bellingham goal.

Including games as Yugoslavia/Serbia & Montenegro, England have won their last five matches against Serbia.

Serbia have only lost one of their last 21 World Cup qualifying matches (W14 D6).

ALBANIA

Head coach: Sylvinho
FIFA World ranking: 65
FIFA World Cup best: N/A
UEFA EURO 2024 performance: Group stage
2023 FIFA World Cup performance: Did not qualify
Last meeting: England 5-0 Albania [Wembley] – 12 November 2021
Match dates: England v Albania, 7.45pm GMT, Friday 21 March 2025 & Albania v England, 5pm GMT, Sunday 16 November 2025
Albania finished fourth in League B1 of the 2024-25 UEFA Nations League behind Czechia, Ukraine and Georgia, which means they were relegated to League C.
England have won all six of their games against Albania by an aggregate score of 19-1.

Albania are one of five nations England have faced more than six times and won all their games against, along with Luxembourg (9), San Marino (8), Malta (7) and Andorra (6).

The last time England faced Albania in November 2021, they won 5-0 with a hat-trick from Harry Kane and were 5-0 ahead at half time.

LATVIA

Head coach: Paolo Nicolato
FIFA World ranking: 137
FIFA World Cup best: N/A
UEFA EURO 2024 performance: Did not qualify
2022 FIFA World Cup performance: Did not qualify
Last meeting: N/A
Match dates: England v Latvia, 7.45pm GMT, Monday 24 March 2025 & Latvia v England, 7.45pm BST, Tuesday 14 October 2025
Latvia finished fourth in League C4 of the 2024-25 UEFA Nations League behind North Macedonia., Armenia and Faroe Islands. They face a play-off against Gibraltar in March 2025 to stay in League C.

England and Latvia have never faced in a match previously, but have met at development level on numerous occasions. Most recently, the MU21s faced them in their UEFA U21 EURO qualifying group in 2017 and 2018, registering a 3-0 win at AFC Bournemouth in September 2017 before a 2-1 win away in September 2018.

ANDORRA

Head coach: Koldo Álvarez
FIFA World ranking: 171
FIFA World Cup best: N/A
UEFA EURO 2024 performance: Did not qualify
2022 FIFA World Cup performance: Did not qualify
Last meeting: Andorra 0-5 England, 9 October 2021
Match dates: Andorra v England, 5pm BST, Saturday 7 June 2025 & England v Andorra, 5pm BST, Saturday 6 September 2025

Andorra finished third in League D2 in the 2024-25 UEFA Nations League behind Moldova and Malta.

England have won all six of their matches against Andorra by an aggregate score of 25-0.

The last time England faced Andorra was in October 2021 in a World Cup qualifier, winning 5-0 with goals from five different players (Ben Chilwell, Bukayo Saka, Tammy Abraham, James Ward-Prowse, Jack Grealish) in Andorra-la-Velle.

England have faced Andorra more times without conceding than they have any other opponent (six times).

Further information on ballots and sale dates will be communicated to members of the England Supporters Travel Club in the New Year.