ENGLAND confirmed their qualification for next summer’s World Cup by overwhelming Latvia in Riga.
Thomas Tuchel’s side needed victory to assure their place in the showpiece, the outcome never in doubt as England outclassed a Latvian side ranked 137th in the world.
Amid the celebrations, it was at times an uncomfortable night for Tuchel, who felt anger and frustration from England’s travelling fans as they chanted sarcastically, and loudly, in response to the head coach’s criticism of “silent” supporters after the friendly against Wales at Wembley.
The bigger picture, however, reveals that England qualified with two games to spare after a flawless first campaign for Tuchel, who succeeded Sir Gareth Southgate in January.
Anthony Gordon put England ahead after 26 minutes with a low, curling finish and captain Harry Kane scored twice more before the interval, first with a strike from the edge of the area then from the spot after his shirt was pulled.
England added a fourth just before the hour when Latvia’s Andrejs Ciganiks bundled Djed Spence’s cross into his own net.
Substitute Eberechi Eze further emphasised England’s dominance with a dribble and low finish to make it 5-0 after 86 minutes.
Tuchel’s England tenure started off as something of a slow burner, but sparked into life with the outstanding 5-0 win in Serbia.
England found a momentum and fluency in Belgrade that had previously eluded them under Tuchel. They now look a serious threat, led by their remarkable captain Kane, who took his tally to 76 goals in 110 appearances with his double in Riga.
And to underscore their growing menace, England have now scored 13 goals without reply in their past three games.
Tuchel may not have been presented with the most testing qualifying group when taking over from Southgate after Lee Carsley’ interim period in charge, but six wins from six games without a goal conceded is still an impressive return.
England keeper Jordan Pickford made two routine saves in the second half, extending his sequence of international clean sheets to nine in a row.
It also means Tuchel can use qualifiers that are now effectively dead rubbers against Serbia at Wembley and away to Albania to continuing shaping his squad in readiness for the World Cup.
Tuchel has completed phase one of the task he was given by reaching the World Cup – now he must find a way to win it.
England’s supporters inside Riga’s Daugava Stadium wasted no time in making their feelings clear about Tuchel’s criticism of the Wembley crowd following the 3-0 friendly win against Wales on Thursday.
The game was only seconds old when loud chants of “Thomas Tuchel we’ll sing when we want” as he was then subjected to a torrent of sarcasm from his own fans.
It was followed by “Thomas Tuchel are we loud enough for tou?” then “Tuchel Tuchel give us a song” which at least brought a raised hand of acknowledgment from the coach.
It carried on, with a period of silence in the stadium sparking the response “are you wembley in disguise?” from England’s fans.
Some of the chanting was light-hearted but the message was clear. England’s travelling support on this rain-soaked night in Riga did not appreciate being taken to task by their own head coach and made their feelings obvious at great volume.
The night ended on good terms as Tuchel applauded the drenched away section, but he was left in no doubt that his words had not been well received.
It is hardly a major fracture between the coach and England’s fans, but it provided an intriguing sub-plot to the formality unfolding on the pitch and may be a lesson learned by Tuchel.