International Football
live
Updated 36s ago
England are taking on Serbia as their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign continues at the Marakana today.
England are top of of Group K with four wins from four, but second-placed Serbia are looking to overturn them in Belgrade.
England XI: Pickford; James, Konsa, Guehi, Livramento; Anderson, Rice; Madueke, Rogers, Gordon; Kane.
Serbia XI: Petrovic; Erakovic, Milenkovic, Pavlovic; Nedeljkovic, Maksimovic, Lukic, Birmancevic; Zivkovic, I. Ilic; Vlahovic.
15 minutes gone here.
England on top but Tino Livramento just had to sprint back to shut down a Dusan Vlahovic counter, which shows how dangerous Serbia can be if England gift it to them in dangerous positions.
England knocking the ball around well, on a difficult pitch, but have not created any solid chances yet.
Advertisement
14’ Serbia 0-0 England
England are moving the ball around pretty well and Declan Rice is seeing plenty of it at the heart of midfield.
He spreads the play and then waves his teammates upfield in an effort to keep the pressure on. Maintaining the tempo will get harder and harder if Serbia remain this disciplined and difficult to break down.
It’s still early days, though.
9’ Serbia 0-0 England
That was the first time England have played a ball over the top to get in behind as Reece James, completely unmarked, makes a run out wide on the overlap and wins a corner.
England pile pressure on despite Serbia managing to clear the corner — but the hosts are defending well.
England have started confidently so far, knocking the ball about well high up the pitch.
Serbia defending in their compact 5-4-1 as expected by Tuchel. Rice has a shot saved from the edge of the box.
England trying to release Madueke early high and wide on the right.
Veljko Birmancevic, playing at left wing-back for Serbia today, is more of an attacker, definitely not an out-and-out defender, though he is tasked with marking the tricky Noni Madueke tonight.
His early contributions — dragging the Arsenal winger down to give away the first free kick, and shunting him uncompromisingly out of play after being outpaced — suggest the plan of action tonight.
Either man or ball gets past. Not both.
5’ Serbia 0-0 England
And it’s a tame one directly at Petrovic in the Serbia goal.
Rice looks frustrated with his effort there, after the chance to shoot opened up at the top of the box.
Advertisement
4’ Serbia 0-0 England
As you might expect, England are having the lion’s share of possession so far.
Another incisive run from Madueke nearly gets him in behind — he has been a bright spark already. Patience will be key as England look to work an opening.
2’ Serbia 0-0 England
The Arsenal winger is dragged down deep on the right and England have a set piece in a good position, but Declan Rice’s delivery is poor.
Serbia clear it easily and England go all the way back to Pickford,
1’ Serbia 0-0 England
And England launch it directly up the field with a long ball towards Harry Kane.
Very noisy here. Lots of boos during the English national anthem. Serbian anthem belted out too. England about to kick off, all in white.
And the England fans were in fine voice in the away end, as were the starting line-up led by captain Harry Kane.
Kick-off will be upon us in just a few moments.
Advertisement
A nice moment before kick-off as Aleksandar Mitrovic receives a special cap and signed print for previously making his 100th Serbia appearance.
Probably wouldn't describe Serbia fans as the ‘shy and retiring’ types, generally speaking.
The tunnel is so long, the players have already begun the walk through the tunnel to the pitch!
Serbia are likely to be the sternest test England have faced so far under Thomas Tuchel and so it is interesting to hear the man himself describe this match as “proof of concept” for his team.
A convincing win tonight would certainly help the feeling that England are entering a new period in which they have enough to win the World Cup next summer.
Let’s see what type of performance we get from them.
Serbia’s line-up features plenty of names fans of English football should recognise.
Djordje Petrovic, once of Chelsea and now of Bournemouth, is a formidable presence in goal, with Nottingham Forest's Nikola Milenkovic and AC Milan's Strahinja Pavlovic also imposing figures in the back three.
Kosta Nedeljkovic at right wing-back has made a handful of appearances for Aston Villa — on loan at RB Leipzig now — with Fulham's Sasa Lukic in the engine room.
Up top, Dusan Vlahovic will offer a stout test to England centre-halves Marc Guehi and Ezri Konsa, as should his replacement, Aleksandar Mitrovic.
I'm excited to see if Atalanta summer signing Lazar Samardzic, creative and clever, gets some game time off the bench, too.
Advertisement
Thomas Tuchel explaining pre-match that he expects Serbia to be defensive given their 5-4-1 shape and the absence of their record goalscorer Aleksandar Mitrovic and Luka Jovic.
However, Dusan Vlahovic, who starts this game, has scored twice for Juventus in just 38 minutes of Serie A action to start the season and scored the winner against Latvia three days back too.
While the performances might not be the most inspiring so far under Tuchel, he still has an impressive record as England boss.
Four wins from four in qualifying, plus the most impressive record of the lot — they are yet to concede in those matches.
Can they hold out again tonight?
Checking in on a result from earlier today …
The Republic of Ireland have suffered a shock 2-1 defeat away against Armenia, who are ranked 105th in the world.
Evan Ferguson's second-half strike was not enough for Heimir Hallgrimsson's side, who are dealt a major blow in their bid to qualify for next year's World Cup.