England Expects After Flawless 2026 World Cup Qualification ...Middle East

Stat, Viz, Quiz is the Opta Analyst football newsletter. This week’s edition looks at England, the Premier League, and the EFL.

You can only beat what’s in front of you, and England very much did that.

Thomas Tuchel’s men may not have exactly been handed the toughest of draws for 2026 World Cup qualifying, but they also couldn’t have done any more to prove their credentials during a campaign that saw them win all eight games without conceding. In this week’s Stat, Viz, Quiz we’ll run through their numbers and tell you how it ranks historically.

During the last international break of 2025, we’ve kept ourselves busy at Opta Analyst and produced a comparison of Premier League teams from this time last year and now. Which sides are doing better, who’s doing worse, and what does it all mean? Read on to find out.

Our quiz tests how much attention you’ve been paying to the international break, while our Ask Opta question takes us to the EFL to see who has been underachieving and overachieving.

With things getting colder outside, now that you’ve opened SVQ just sit by the radiator, grab a cup of tea/coffee, and let’s get stuck into some nice, warm stats.

If you haven’t done so already, you can subscribe below for free to receive SVQ every Tuesday.

STAT – Perfect England

When the final whistle blew in Tirana on Sunday, there shouldn’t really have been any more than polite applause and handshakes all round.

Heading into the game on the final matchday of the World Cup qualifying groups in Europe, England had already secured top spot in Group K while hosts Albania had confirmed a play-off spot with second place. On paper, there was only pride to play for.

As it turned out, pride is quite a strong motivator. It was arguably England’s most competitive game of the group stage, but two late goals from who else but Harry Kane sealed a victory that left the Three Lions with a 100% record.

Albania gave them a good game, but despite their 0.49 xG being the most England had faced all campaign, the hosts were unable to find the net. That meant Thomas Tuchel’s side did not concede a single goal in their eight games.

It made England only the second European team to win all of their games in a World Cup qualifying campaign without conceding, after Yugoslavia kept clean sheets in each of their four qualifiers for the 1954 tournament.

Across their eight games against Albania, Serbia, Latvia and Andorra, England scored 22 goals from 20.8 xG. They attempted 151 shots in total, with 63 on target.

At the other end, it wasn’t just good fortune and outstanding goalkeeping that kept their net from being bothered even once. They only allowed their opponents a combined total of 34 shots, with just six hitting the target. Their xG against of 2.12 meant they averaged just 0.27 xG conceded per game.

A total of 32 players were used by Tuchel, but the only three to feature in all eight qualifiers were Kane, Declan Rice and, perhaps surprisingly, Morgan Rogers.

Very much unsurprisingly, Kane was the team’s top goalscorer with eight goals, while Eberechi Eze (3) was the only other Three Lions player to find the net more than once. Nine other England players scored one goal in qualifying.

Rice recorded the most assists (4), with Phil Foden (2) the only other player to make more than one. Nine other players also registered an assist, with England showing their strength in depth with so many either scoring or assisting.

The victory also made it 11 straight wins in competitive games for England, the first time the Three Lions have ever managed such a run.

Can they go all the way and win the World Cup for the first time since 1966 next summer? There’s every reason to feel they can challenge, but we’re at least fairly confident that that topic won’t be discussed to the point of tedium between now and June 2026…

VIZ – Then vs Now

Football moves fast.

Not that long ago, it felt as though Liverpool were unstoppable, Manchester United were eminently stoppable, Arsenal were perennial bridesmaids, and Manchester City were at the end of their cycle of dominance.

Now, Liverpool are losing regularly, Manchester United are ‘back’, Arsenal lead the way, and a resurgent Manchester City look to be the Gunners’ main challengers this season.

After 11 games of the 2025-26 season, some teams are well up on their points total from the corresponding stage in 2024-25, while others are significantly down.

Moods have shifted, opinions have flip-flopped, and the new normal is here to prove that when it comes to football, you really are only as good as your last few results.

Liverpool and Nottingham Forest are the perfect examples of that, both having amassed 10 points fewer after 11 games than they did by this stage last term, with the former already seemingly done in the title race, and the latter finding themselves in the relegation zone and on their third manager of the season just a few months after being disappointed to just miss out on UEFA Champions League qualification. Coincidentally, they meet on Saturday in a battle to determine whose crisis is less crisis-y.

Looking at the most improved teams, Arsenal are obviously doing better, leading the Premier League after winning seven more points after 11 games than last season, but it is Crystal Palace who are the biggest movers. Oliver Glasner’s men have 17 points from 11 outings, a whopping 10 more than this same stage in 2024-25.

Of course, while 11 matchdays is a decent sample size, there are still 27 games remaining. We aren’t even a third of the way through the campaign so this could all change significantly again over the coming months.

It has nonetheless been an interesting first three months of the season, though, and all this change and unpredictability is what keeps us so invested in the Premier League.

If you want to read more about it, we covered it all in greater detail here.

QUIZ – World Cup Qualifier Queries

Not everyone watches international football, but we hope you do because this week’s quiz is all about it. Answers at the bottom of the page.

1. Which Wales player completed 146 of his 147 passes in their 1-0 win over Liechtenstein, with his 99.3% passing accuracy the highest of any player to attempt 100+ passes in a game on record across UEFA qualifying for the World Cup (since 2010)?

2. Ben Gannon-Doak (20 years and 4 days old) scored his first ever international goal for Scotland against Greece, becoming their youngest scorer since which former Rangers and Liverpool player found the net against Faroe Islands in November 2010? Clue: He shares a name with the manager who took Barnsley into the Premier League in the 1990s.

3. In their dramatic win in Hungary on Sunday, Séamus Coleman (37y 36d) became the oldest outfield player to appear for the Republic of Ireland since which striker in November 1999?

4. Thomas Tuchel has won nine of his 10 games in charge of England. Who is the only other Three Lions manager to pick up as many as nine wins in his first 10 matches?

5. Norway have qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1998. How many goals did Erling Haaland score in their 2026 qualifying campaign?

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Ask Opta

Our question this week comes from John L, who asks: “Do you have numbers to say which teams in the EFL are doing well or poorly against their xG this season?”

Do you have a stat-based question you’d like Opta to answer in a future edition of SVQ? Email us at [email protected] or message us on X @OptaAnalyst with #AskOpta and we’ll pick the best one.

Answer:

We do indeed have those numbers.

Across the EFL, the team outperforming their xG to the greatest extent are Chesterfield, who have scored 28 goals from just 18 xG (+10). That’s ahead of MK Dons (+9.81), Coventry City (+8.31), Tranmere Rovers (+8.02) and Notts County (+7.85).

At the other end of the scale, Oldham Athletic are underperforming their xG by the largest amount, scoring only 13 goals from 24.64 xG (-11.64). That’s ahead of Port Vale (-9.83), Sheffield United (-8.96), Doncaster Rovers (-6.71) and Southampton (-6.69).

Defensively, Stoke City are overperforming their xG against by the most, only conceding 10 goals from 18.46 xG against (-8.46). Oldham are making up for their profligacy at the other end by only allowing 12 goals from 20.13 xG against (-8.13), while Rotherham United (-7.17), Charlton Athletic (-6.32) and Barrow (-6.04) are all doing well to keep big chances out.

Shrewsbury Town have conceded more than they should have, allowing 25 goals from just 17.64 xG against (+7.36), ahead of Sheffield United (-5.36), Crawley Town (-5.28), QPR (-5.06) and Leyton Orient (-4.97).

Quiz Answers

1. Which Wales player completed 146 of his 147 passes in their 1-0 win over Liechtenstein, with his 99.3% passing accuracy the highest of any player to attempt 100+ passes in a game on record across UEFA qualifying for the World Cup (since 2010)?

Joe Rodon

2. Ben Gannon-Doak (20 years and 4 days old) scored his first ever international goal for Scotland against Greece, becoming their youngest scorer since which former Rangers and Liverpool player found the net against Faroe Islands in November 2010? Clue: He shares a name with the manager who took Barnsley into the Premier League in the 1990s.

Danny Wilson (18y & 324d)

3. In their dramatic win in Hungary on Sunday, Séamus Coleman (37y 36d) became the oldest outfield player to appear for the Republic of Ireland since which striker in November 1999?

Tony Cascarino (37y 77d vs Türkiye in a Euro 2000 qualifier)

4. Thomas Tuchel has won nine of his 10 games in charge of England. Who is the only other Three Lions manager to pick up as many as nine wins in his first 10 matches?

Glenn Hoddle in 1996-1997 (also W9 L1)

5. Norway have qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1998. How many goals did Erling Haaland score in their 2026 qualifying campaign?

16 goals in 8 games

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England Expects After Flawless 2026 World Cup Qualification Opta Analyst.

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