England continued where they left off in Belgrade on their return to Wembley, roaring into a 3-0 lead inside 20 minutes in their not-so-friendly international against Wales thanks to goals from Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins and most memorably Bukayo Saka.
There would be no further goals but it’s another encouraging night for England on their road to the World Cup under Thomas Tuchel, with Jordan Pickford helping himself to a 41st clean sheet for his country and Djed Spence catching the eye on his first start for the national team.
And that midfield pairing of Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson is really starting to have a very settled first-choice look about it, the Nottingham Forest man having provided a compelling answer to one of the key selection questions Tuchel had to address.
Here are our full ratings-without-ratings.
Jordan Pickford
Had two saves to make. Made them. Which is a pretty standard England performance these days for a man who hasn’t conceded an international goal for a year and has now moved clear of David Seaman in solo third place on England’s clean sheet leaderboard. Joe Hart in second is only two clear of Pickford’s tally of 41.
Ezri Konsa
Filled in at right-back and might have expected a more awkward evening than Wales gave him. Linked up pretty nicely with Saka given it’s not the role to which he’s accustomed. Shuttled across to his more usual centre-back position after Stones was substituted.
John Stones
First England appearance in a year was very welcome and largely comfortable despite a brief injury alarm midway through the first half. Wales were disappointing, obviously, but you do just feel more comfortable and relaxed about England’s defending when Stones is around.
Marc Guehi
Centre-back playmaker is a role we didn’t know even existed. Did brilliantly well to keep a corner alive and then set up Morgan Rogers for the opener, and made it two assists inside the first 11 minutes when getting a touch to Morgan Rogers’ cross before Watkins tapped in from close range.
Was, though, booked for a clumsy foul on Kieffer Moore after getting himself into a tangle during a rare Wales attack.
Djed Spence
Struck up an instant rapport with Anthony Gordon with England enjoying plenty of success down the left-hand side. Certainly didn’t look out of place on his first international start as the Spurs full-back’s career continues its remarkable 2025 renaissance.
We’re starting to see just how loyal Tuchel is and will be to players who do the business for him, and Spence is now the man in possession and a big, big winner on the night. Also showed his very useful squad-composition versatility by ending the game at right-back.
Declan Rice
A constant threat from the many, many set-pieces England won and the system Tuchel has now landed upon with Anderson really does free him up wonderfully well to get more involved in England’s attacking play. Grows more and more important and influential with every international cap he secures.
Elliot Anderson
Just thoroughly at home in international football and has the perfect game to complement Declan Rice in the middle. We’re now pretty comfortable – in every way – with saying Anderson is now a pretty clear first-choice midfield pick.
Bukayo Saka
There was plenty of competition for standout moment of the first 20 minutes at Wembley, but Saka took the plaudits with a stunning goal whipped into the top corner after cutting inside onto his left foot. There was an air of certainty about such a difficult skill that only the very best possess.
Morgan Rogers
His first goal of the season is an England goal after he finished smartly having been so cleverly picked out by Guehi, and he continues to make things very interesting.
Anthony Gordon
Questions remain about end product – most notably when delaying a cross for Rashford by a crucial half-second – but such a lively performance full of running, with Neco Williams happy to get off the pitch having seen more than enough of the Newcastle winger over the last week or so.
Played his part with a trademark surging run in the build-up to Saka’s beauty of a third goal.
Ollie Watkins
May never have scored an easier goal in his career than the one-yard effort that doubled England’s lead with barely 10 minutes on the clock, but didn’t reappear for the second half after crashing into the post attempting to score another from a similar range.
The double frustration of that missed chance and injury shouldn’t overshadow a decent 45 minutes that have only cemented his quite strikingly unopposed run at the Harry Kane Back-up gig.
Substitutes
Marcus Rashford (for Watkins, 46)
A couple of smart runs, but if you were only going to play in one half of this game you really wanted it to be the first rather than the perhaps inevitably more low-key second half where both teams had one eye on more meaningful tests to come.
Jordan Henderson (for Anderson, 70)
A quadruple substitution with 20 minutes to go had the inevitable effect of slightly disrupting England’s hitherto flawless rhythm. Not really the fault of any of the individuals who came on at that point, but they could all have very similar entries here.
Morgan Gibbs-White (for Rogers, 70)
It was difficult for the subs trying to make an impression in a game that had to all intents already ended, but Gibbs-White did little that stayed in the memory after replacing the excellent Rogers. We must still assume Jude Bellingham returns to the fold at some point quite soon, and we’re not quite sure where that will leave Gibbs-White now Rogers is pretty compellingly ahead of him in the pecking order.
Jarrod Bowen (for Saka, 70)
Perhaps the liveliest of the late subs, but replacing Saka for England always seems like a particularly thankless task.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek (for Rice, 70)
His first England appearance in almost seven years. Tuchel is clearly a fan.
Myles Lewis-Skelly (for Stones, 80)
Stones’ late departure forced a pretty significant rejig to England’s defence for the last 10 minutes, with Konsa moving to centre-back and Spence switching to the right to accommodate Lewis-Skelly. It didn’t make much difference.
