Have England qualified for the World Cup yet? How many points do they need after thrashing Serbia 5-0
England are tantalisingly close to qualifying for the 2026 World Cup after a dominant win against Serbia.
The Three Lions picked up their biggest win since Thomas Tuchel took charge, beating their opponents 5-0 at the Rajko Mitic Stadium.
Harry Kane, Noni Madueke, Ezri Konsa and Marc Guehi all got themselves on the scoresheet, before Marcus Rashford scored from the penalty spot in the 90th minute, while Serbia failed to even register a shot on target.
There had been concerns before the game about England players being abused by the home fans, but they were quickly silenced by Tuchel’s squad.
Speaking after the game, the England manager said: “We were very strong - I think it was teamwork in its purest form. We helped each other out, we had the right intensity in the right moments.
“We put the work in to not allow one shot on target for a strong home team. If you want to do this, you need to support each other, you need to play disciplined and keep the intensity up.
“This is what we did and the players did excellent, so full credit to the team. I told you before, we had a brilliant week from start to finish and this was proof of it.”
The result puts England seven points clear at the top of group K, with Albania now in second.
But while the outcome seems inevitable, they haven’t qualified for the World Cup yet.
How do England qualify for the World Cup?
All teams in the World Cup qualification stage play the other countries in their group twice - once at home, and once away. Having completed all but one of their home games, the second half of England’s campaign sees them travelling to Latvia and Albania, alongside a home fixture against Serbia in November.
The top team of each group will qualify automatically for next year’s tournament, with second place going into play-off matches with the other runners up.
So, mathematically speaking, England need five points from their remaining three games to guarantee automatic qualification. A win and two draws would therefore be enough.
However, the reality is that Serbia and Albania are likely to take points off one another when they meet - if the two sides draw in their upcoming fixture, England would only need three points to top the group.
Those three points could come during the next international break in October, when the Three Lions play against Latvia. The Baltic side are currently fourth in the group with a win, a draw and three losses to their name.