Kane Rescues England with Late Goal as Netherlands and Austria Start World Cup Campaigns Strongly
Harry Kane’s 72nd international goal secured a narrow 1-0 victory for England over Andorra, keeping their World Cup qualifying hopes alive. Meanwhile, the Netherlands and Austria launched their campaigns with solid wins on Saturday.
In a match that left much to be desired, England struggled to break down a team ranked 173rd in the world, earning jeers from the crowd in Barcelona. Despite the lackluster performance, manager Thomas Tuchel celebrated the fact that he is the first England manager to win his first three competitive games without conceding a goal. However, he voiced his dissatisfaction with the team’s urgency and attitude, stating, “I’m not happy with the performance. We completely lost the momentum and couldn’t get it back.”
England now sits five points clear in Group K after three matches, while second-placed Albania drew 0-0 with Serbia, where Rey Manaj missed a penalty in first-half stoppage time.
In Helsinki, the Netherlands kicked off their qualifying campaign with a convincing 2-0 win over Finland. Memphis Depay opened the scoring just six minutes into the match, followed by Denzil Dumfries doubling the lead in the 23rd minute. The Dutch now sit third in Group G, trailing Finland by one point and leaders Poland by three.
Austria also began their World Cup qualifying journey on a high note, defeating Romania 2-1 in Vienna. Goals from Marcel Sabitzer and Michael Gregoritsch put Austria ahead, although Florin Tanase pulled one back for Romania in stoppage time. Austria currently has three points, alongside Romania and Cyprus in Group H, where Bosnia-Herzegovina leads with nine points after Edin Dzeko’s solitary goal secured a win against San Marino.
