FOOTBALL – Reece James scored a brilliant free kick and Eberechi Eze grabbed his maiden international goal as England beat Latvia 3-0 in a World Cup qualifier at Wembley Stadium last night.
James, making his first start in 2 1/2 years, curled a 25-metre free kick into the top corner after 37 minutes. The goal was his first in 18 England appearances and broke down a stuffy Latvia side.
Midway through the second half, with the home crowd starting to get restless, young midfielder Morgan Rogers combined well with Declan Rice to pave the way for a Harry Kane tap-in.
Then Eze cut in from the right and his shot hit the back of the net after taking a slight deflection.
England are the hot favorites to win Europe Group K and qualify for the 2026 World Cup. New coach Thomas Tuchel, in just his second game in charge, will be content with the result if not the performance against a side 136 places behind it in the Fifa rankings.
In the same group, Albania bounced back from losing to England 2-0 on Friday by beating Andorra 3-0 at home. Rey Manaj scored twice in the first half and Myrto Uzuni added a third in second-half stoppage time.
In Group G, Poland won for the second time in three days thanks to two goals from Karol Swiderski against Malta. Swiderski scored in each half.
Earlier, Finland gave up a two-goal lead in Lithuania and drew 2-2, missing the chance to maintain a 100 per cent record.
Kaan Kairinen put the Finns ahead after four minutes and Joel Pohjanpalo doubled their lead from the penalty spot 13 minutes later. But Armandas Kucys pulled a goal back for Lithuania just before halftime and Gvidas Gineitis equalized with a 30-metre strike in the 69th.
Poland top Group G with six points, two ahead of Finland, one of the teams that have never before qualified for the World Cup.
In Group H, Bosnia and Herzegovina beat Cyprus 2-1 at home to stay perfect.
Ermedin Demirovic put the Bosnians 1-0 up midway through the first half and Ioannis Pittas headed home an equalizer for Cyprus on the stroke of halftime. However, Haris Hajradinovic fired into the top corner early in the second half to add to their opening win over Romania last week.
Romania got their first points after winning at San Marino 5-1. The fifth team in Group H, Austria, have still to kick off their campaign.
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