After Saturday’s disappointment of losing to world champions Spain, Tuesday evening saw England’s Nations League campaign continue as they picked up a win over Czechia at the Fortuna Arena. With the game showing a bit of back and forth in the early stages, England were put in control of the tie as their hosts were reduced to 10-men with the red card for Sulc, and shortly into the second half, England took control and opened the scoring to add a second shortly after.

While the red card really put England in control, we will see how they continue to perform in these games over the next week, with the return fixture to come next week, England are at least have points on the board in this Nations League group where they continue to test themselves against the top sides.

As always, if you have any thoughts on this game, get in touch with us by leaving a comment, following us on Bluesky (@NextGoalWinner) or Instagram (@NextGoalWin) and checking out our YouTube channel (@NextGoalWinner).

Teams

Czechia: Kovar, Slama, Krejci, Hranac, Chaloupek, Cerv (Macek 80′), Sadilek (Kral 56′), Karabec (Lingr 45′), Sulc, Radosta (Ambros 56′), Hlozek (Vasulin 80′)

Subs: Kinsky, Hornicek, Vitik, Sacek, Kricfalusi, Zmrzly, Bucha

England: Trafford, Hall, Guehi, Chalobah, Trent, Lewis-Skelly (Eze 46′), Anderson (Scott 70′), Gordon (Gibbs-White 80′), Rogers, Saka (Bellingham 70′), Kane (Ngumoha 70′)

Subs: Steele, Pickford, Konsa, Quansah, Branthwaite, Garner, Calvert-Lewin

Czechia 0-2 England

England got their Nations League campaign up and running with a hard-earned 2-0 victory over Czechia in Prague on Tuesday night, recovering from their opening defeat to Spain with a composed second-half display. Thomas Tuchel’s side found the hosts awkward opponents early on, with Czechia showing plenty of energy and threatening on the break. England were handed a major advantage in the 23rd minute, however, when Pavel Šulc was shown a red card following a high challenge on Elliot Anderson after a VAR review. Even with the extra man, England had to be patient, with Matěj Kovář producing an excellent save to deny Harry Kane and Morgan Rogers seeing an effort come back off the post.

The breakthrough finally arrived just two minutes into the second half, and it owed plenty to the quality of Trent Alexander-Arnold. Making his first start under Tuchel, the full-back delivered a superb cross into the area, picking out Anthony Gordon with precision. The Barcelona winger stooped to guide a header into the far corner, giving England the lead and continuing his excellent recent run in an England shirt. Gordon had already looked one of the visitors’ liveliest attackers before the goal, and his movement became increasingly difficult for a Czech defence forced to cover the extra space.

Czechia tried to stay in the contest, but England’s numerical advantage gradually told as the game opened up. Kane doubled the lead in the 69th minute with the sort of calm finish that has become familiar throughout his international career, sweeping home after reacting quickest to a loose ball. England then created further opportunities without adding a third, while the hosts struggled to generate the sustained pressure needed to make the final stages uncomfortable for Tuchel’s team. The clean sheet was another welcome feature for England, particularly after conceding three times against Spain in their opening Group A3 fixture.

The final whistle brought a valuable first win of the Nations League campaign and a measure of momentum for England ahead of their trip to Croatia. It was not a flawless performance, particularly during a nervy opening period, but the visitors showed patience after Šulc’s dismissal and eventually made their advantage count. Gordon’s continued form, Alexander-Arnold’s trademark delivery and Kane’s clinical finishing provided the decisive moments, while the clean sheet offered further encouragement. After the disappointment of the Spain defeat, Prague proved a useful response for Tuchel’s side, three points secured, defensive work rewarded and the group campaign firmly back on track.

Talking Points

The first talking point has to be the red card and how this put the game into England’s favour. With some back-and-forth in the early stages, the red card for Sulc really put England in control and although they still had to show patience in breaking down the opposition defence, they ensured to not let the man advantage go to waste and turned what could have been a close game into something quite comfortable as they got their first Nations League points.

One of the key boosts for England comes from some individual performances. With a clean sheet for the defence after their mistakes against Spain, Trafford’s campaign to become no.1 will take some boost from this despite the limited attacks from their opponents. Meanwhile, Trent Alexander-Arnold showed his quality in setting up Antony Gordon. While the Real Madrid man hasn’t been involved for England since June 2025, his ball over to Gordon took huge praise for vision, creativity and ability to produce this kind of pass. With the full-back spots being an issue for England over the summer, it shows how Trent really should be in and around this squad much more.

Finally, England showing these types of performance gives fans little to take from the game. Although the Nations League does offer a chance to test against equally matched sides, playing away to arguably the weakest opponents in their current group, and the opposition down to 10-men early on means fans would have accepted nothing but a comfortable win. While England don’t tend to blow teams away very often, this seemed a more ‘getting the job done’ style approach, and we will see how the final games play out in this international break as the return fixture could be more closely contested, and the weekend’s clash with Croatia could also be another step up.