"He is in the shape of his life" - Thomas Tuchel hails 'out of this world' England star after their win over Serbia 

Thomas Tuchel singled out Harry Kane for praise after England’s 2-0 win against Serbia in FIFA World Cup qualifying on Thursday. Kane was named in the starting XI for the contest at Wembley and played for 65 minutes before he was replaced by Phil Foden in the 65th minute.

After the game, Tuchel was asked if Foden could challenge Kane to start important matches for England going forward, to which he said:

“It’s a big ask for [Phil Foden] to challenge Harry [Kane] at the moment. [Kane is] in the shape of his life. His attitude, work rate, quality and finishing ratio is just out of control [and] out of this world.”

Foden, who came on as a false nine for Kane, marked his appearance with an assist, setting up Eberechi Eze for England’s second goal. It was Foden’s first appearance for the national team since March. Speaking after the match, the Manchester City star expressed excitement at returning to international duty. He said:

“It’s amazing to be back. I’m so happy to be back in the squad with these great players and I'm enjoying it. I thought I did well. I created some chances, we were unlucky not to put a few away. Overall, I have to be happy with the impact.”

The 25-year-old also hoped that his versatility could help him secure his place in Tuchel’s squad.

“We had to overcome some difficult moments” – Thomas Tuchel on England’s 2-0 win over Serbia

England's 2-0 win against Serbia saw them extend their World Cup qualifying run to seven wins from seven games. They booked their spot in the 2026 World Cup last month following a dominant 5-0 win against Latvia.

Speaking about the match, Tuchel admitted that the game wasn’t a walk in the park, but he was happy with his side’s first-half performance.

“It was a difficult match. It was complicated because they knew everything about us and we knew nothing about them. Go through the list of players, they are at top clubs, they play in top leagues. They have individual quality, they came with new energy and they made it a final for them," he said. “I liked the first half a lot. I think we deserved to go up, I think we deserved to have maybe a second goal with Harry's header. Second-half, we didn't get the pressing right all the time, they escaped sometimes from the deep build-up into fast attacks so the back four had to work hard to keep the clean sheet. We had to overcome some difficult moments but I like it, not everything is easy. Not every win is 2-0, 3-0, 5-0. It is good. We kept a clean sheet and it was decisive in the end.”

The Three Lions will face Albania in their last group game on Sunday, November 16.

Edited by Ezekiel Olamide