Tuchel delighted by Lewis-Skelly's "courage and quality"
03/22/2025 03:51 AM
Myles Lewis-Skelly marked his England debut with a goal as Thomas Tuchel’s Three Lions got their 2026 World Cup qualification campaign off to a positive start with a 2-0 win over Albania at Wembley.
The 18-year-old slotted home on 19 minutes after making a darting run behind the visitors’ defence, which was spotted by Jude Bellingham.
In finding the net, he became the third youngest player to score for England after Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney.
On being informed of his place in the record books, he told ITV Sport (via Evening Standard): “That's incredible! Amazing! I got nothing to say, really, that's amazing!”
“I'm lost for words. I'm so grateful that the manager put trust in me and the players too. Great pass from Jude. All I had to do was put it in the back of the net. The fans made me feel at home. Thanks to them.”
Having rolled the dice on Lewis-Skelly for what was his first squad selection, Tuchel was clearly delighted by the impact of the Arsenal academy graduate.
In his post-game press conference, the German remarked: “He was amazing in camp. Full of confidence, full of humour. He is such an open and mature character. You see everything on the pitch, off the pitch. He was straightaway part of the group, he does it with a natural confidence. That’s how he plays football.
“It’s a great performance, full of courage and quality. All the more so with his little run behind the line, he was decisive and opened this game for us. It was amazing.”
Declan Rice, Arsenal’s other representative in the squad, registered an assist for Harry Kane before being replaced by Jordan Henderson with eight minutes remaining.
He too was impressed by Lewis-Skelly, saying: “He’s fearless. He does everything right off the pitch and he is only 18.”
It’ll be interesting to see if Tuchel leans on Lewis-Skelly again on Monday when Latvia visit Wembley. Given he doesn’t have many options at left-back, he may well do.
In other news, Italy confirmed that Riccardo Calafiori has returned to London Colney as a result of the knee injury sustained against Germany on Thursday evening. While the seriousness of the issue is unconfirmed, there are suggestions he’s facing two to three weeks on the sidelines.
Here’s what the rest of the boys have been up to so far…
David Raya, Spain
2-2 vs Netherlands (A), UEFA Nations League
– unsused sub
Mikel Merino, Spain
2-2 vs Netherlands (A), UEFA Nations League
– came off the bench to score a stoppage-time equaliser
Jurrien Timber, Netherlands
2-2 vs Spain (H), UEFA Nations League
– didn’t feature as he was ill
William Saliba, France
0-2vs Croatia (A), UEFA Nations League
– played the full 90 minutes
Riccardo Calafiori, Italy
1-2 vs Germany (H), UEFA Nations League
– forced off with an injury in the closing stages, now back at Arsenal
Kieran Tierney, Scotland
1-0 vs Greece (A), UEFA Nations League
– came on for the final 14 minutes
Oleksandr Zinchenko, Ukraine
3-1 vs Belgium (N), UEFA Nations League
– played the full 90 in midfield and provided an assist for Ukraine’s third goal
Leandro Trossard, Belgium
1-3 vs Ukraine (N), UEFA Nations League
– played 80 minutes on the left wing
Myles Lewis-Skelly, England
2-0 vs Albania (H), World Cup Qualifier
– scored the opener on his debut, substituted in stoppage time.
Declan Rice, England
2-0 vs Albania (H), World Cup Qualifier
– played 82 minutes and provided an assist for Harry Kane
Jakub Kiwior, Poland
v1-0 s Lithuania (H), World Cup Qualifier
– played 90 minutes on the left side of a 3-man defence
Gabriel Magalhaes
2-1vs Colombia (H), World Cup Qualifier
– played the full 90 minutes but picked up a booking that rules him out of Tuesday’s game with Argentina
Thomas Partey, Ghana
5-0 vs Chad (H), World Cup Qualifier
– played 83 minutes
Ethan Nwaneri, England under-21s
3-5 vs France under-21s (A), Friendly
– made his under-21 debut in the 89th minute
Tommy Setford, England under-19s
2-0 vs Wales under-19s (A), UEFA U19 EURO qualifier
– played the full 90 minutes
Martin Odegaard’s Norway face Moldova in a World Cup qualifier this afternoon.
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