England book their place at the 2026 World Cup
Football Daily
BBC
4.3 • 4.6K Ratings
🗓️ 15 October 2025
⏱️ 45 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
England are on their way to next summer’s World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the USA after a 5-0 win against Latvia secured their qualification with two matches to spare.
Kelly Cates is joined by John Murray, Ian Dennis and former England defenders Conor Coady and Matt Upson to assess England’s performance in Riga, and how the team is developing under Thomas Tuchel.
The England boss explains how their game plan might change next summer in North America and how it feels to have sealed qualification. There’s also reaction from Anthony Gordon and Harry Kane.
Plus, we discuss the importance of the England captain and whether Jude Bellingham could miss out even if he’s fit next summer?
Timecodes: 00:22 – Reaction to performance against Latvia 11:05 – Harry Kane Interview 15:47 – Anthony Gordon Interview 17:43 – Thomas Tuchel Interview 23:14 – Tuchel’s selections - No I in this England Team? 28:50 – How might Tuchel’s squad evolve between now and the World Cup? 33:00 – Tuchel committed to continuity? 34:34 – How Important is Harry Kane for England? 37:02 – Do England need to change style of play for next summer?
Commentaries on 5 live and BBC Sounds this week:
Wednesday 15th October WOMEN'S CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Chelsea v Paris FC 2000 KO - 5 LIVE
Saturday 18th October PREMIER LEAGUE: Manchester City v Everton 1500 KO - 5 LIVE PREMIER LEAGUE: Crystal Palace v Bournemouth 1500 KO - SPORTS EXTRA PREMIER LEAGUE: Fulham v Arsenal 1730 KO - 5 LIVE
Sunday 19th October PREMIER LEAGUE: Spurs v Aston Villa 1400 KO - 5 LIVE PREMIER LEAGUE: Liverpool v Manchester United 1630 KO - 5 LIVE
Transcript
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| 0:35.8 | Listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:39.1 | Sort of expecting that every week now. This is the Football Daily podcast with Kelly Cates. England have booked their place |
| 0:47.9 | at the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the USA. They wrapped it up with two games to spare, |
| 0:54.0 | thanks to a 5-0 win away in Latvia. |
| 0:57.0 | Lots of reaction to come with Connor Cody and our commentary team in Riga, Matt Upps, |
| 1:00.7 | Upps and Ian Dennis and John Murray. And there it is. The final whistle goes and with that final whistle, |
| 1:07.2 | we can say that England will be at the World Cup in the Americas in 2026. |
| 1:13.6 | They've done the job and they've done it in style, winning 5-0 here in the reign of Riga. |
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