Sports Mole previews Thursday’s international friendly between England and Wales, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
The 105th encounter between England and Wales takes place under the famous Wembley arch on Thursday night when the two home nations square off in an international friendly.
Almost three years have passed since the Three Lions secured a 3-0 away victory over the Dragons in their last meeting during the group stage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Match preview
England are gearing up for their first friendly fixture since suffering a surprise 3-1 defeat against Senegal at the City Ground in June – the first and only defeat to date of Thomas Tuchel’s brief spell in charge (W5 D0 L1).
However, the Three Lions responded by claiming back-to-back victories without reply against Andorra and Serbia in 2026 World Cup qualifying last month, with a routine 2-0 home win over the former followed by an emphatic 5-0 success away against the latter.
Sitting top of Group K with a maximum 15 points from five games, England will punch their ticket to next summer’s tournament held in Canada, Mexico and the United States if they beat Latvia in Riga next Tuesday, but Tuchel’s side must first shift their attention to Thursday’s ‘Battle of Britain’ against rivals Wales.
Scoring goals has not been a problem for a Three Lions outfit ranked fourth in the world by FIFA, as they have made the net ripple in each of their last 16 matches across all competitions, their joint-longest run this century; they last scored in 17 consecutive games between June 1990 and June 1991.
England also have a strong record against Wales having won each of their last seven meetings in all competitions, scoring 14 goals and conceding just one in the process; only against Luxembourg (nine), Andorra and San Marino (both eight) have the Three Lions enjoyed longer winning streaks against the same opponent.
Following Gareth Bale’s decision to bring the curtain down on his glittering international career, head coach Craig Bellamy assured Wales fans that “this machine is going to get stronger”, and he has backed up that claim by propelling the Dragons from 45th to 30th in the FIFA World Rankings since his appointment in July 2024.
Bellamy began his Wales tenure with an impressive nine-game unbeaten run in all competitions (W5 D4), but his team have since suffered defeat in two of their last three internationals, with a 1-0 win over Kazakhstan in World Cup qualifying sandwiched between a ‘crazy’ 4-3 loss to Belgium and 1-0 defeat at home to Canada in their most recent friendly last month.
Wales will hope that Thursday’s clash with England will serve as valuable preparation for next Monday’s important World Cup qualifier at home against another top-10-ranked nation in Belgium, who sit level on points with the Dragons in Group J and one point behind leaders North Macedonia.
However, success on the road has been hard to come by for Wales, who are winless in each of their last 11 away friendlies (D1 L10) since a narrow 1-0 victory in Denmark back in 2008, thanks to a goal from none other than Bellamy himself!
The Dragons have in fact failed to score in each of their last 10 away friendlies, going 938 minutes since they last netted against Montenegro in 2009, while they have also won just one of their 24 away matches against England post-World War Two (D6 L17) – a 1-0 win at the old Wembley in May 1977.
England form (all competitions):
W W W L W W
Wales form (all competitions):
W D W L W L
Team News
England will be without Player of the Year Jude Bellingham as well as Phil Foden, Jack Grealish and Adam Wharton who have all been omitted from Tuchel’s squad, with the Three Lions boss insisting that he has “no problem” with any of those players.
Reece James, Tino Livramento and Noni Madueke, who all started against Serbia last time out, have also been left out as they are currently sidelined with injuries along with Cole Palmer and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Manchester City’s Nico O’Reilly has been handed his first senior call-up following James’s withdrawal on Monday and he could compete with Myles Lewis-Skelly and Djed Spence for a start at left-back, while John Stones is ready to start at centre-back after missing last month’s international break through injury.
Bukayo Saka is also back in the England squad and will hope to earn a start on the right flank, while in-form striker Harry Kane, who has scored 18 goals in just 11 matches form Bayern Munich so far this season, is expected to captain the Three Lions.
As for Wales, experienced midfielder Aaron Ramsey – who now plies his trade at club level with Mexican side Pumas UNAM – has been forced to withdraw from the squad with an unspecified injury, while Leeds United winger Daniel James (ankle) is also unavailable for selection.
Bellamy has since added Cardiff City duo Isaak Davies and Rubin Colwill to his squad, while Leeds trio Karl Darlow, Joe Rodon and Ethan Ampadu, Tottenham pair Brennan Johnson and Ben Davies, and Fulham’s Harry Wilson and are among the Premier League representatives who could be involved for the Dragons.
Wrexham striker Kieffer Moore has scored four goals in nine Championship games this term and has also netted in each of his last two appearances for Wales, scoring against both Liechtenstein and Kazakhstan – the 50-cap international has never previously scored in three successive games for his country.
England possible starting lineup:
Henderson; Spence, Konsa, Burn, Lewis-Skelly; Rice, Anderson, Rogers; Saka, Kane, Rashford
Wales possible starting lineup:
Darlow; Williams, Mepham, Rodon, Davies; Ampadu, J. James; Johnson, Wilson, Thomas; Moore
We say: England 2-0 Wales
Each of the last eight England managers have won their first meeting with a fellow home nation (excluding those that never faced one) and Tuchel will be confident of becoming the ninth with whichever team he fields against Wales considering the wealth of quality still at his disposal.
Wales have shown positives signs of progression under Bellamy, but it remains to be seen how they will approach this friendly, with one eye on next week’s crunch match against Belgium. Should several star names be rested, this will only play into England’s hands and a home win is the favoured result here.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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