England managed to repeat an achievement they had not replicated for 43 years in their uninspiring 1-0 victory over Andorra on Saturday evening.

Thomas Tuchel's men were expected to enjoy a stress-free evening in Barcelona, but the Three Lions were instead close to suffering one of their most embarrassing results in recent memory.

An experimental England team had no answer to Andorra's defensive might in the first half, and they needed captain Harry Kane to bail them out of trouble early in the second.

After having one close-range effort saved by Andorra goalkeeper Iker Alvarez, the Bayern Munich talisman fired home into the roof of the net following Noni Madueke's low ball into the six-yard box.

Kane's close-range finish was his 450th senior career goal across all competitions for both club and country, and it also saw the Three Lions achieve a notable feat.

England win five games without conceding for first time since 1982

By shutting out Andorra and taking home all three points, England made it five wins in a row without conceding, the first time they had managed that particular sequence of results since 1982.

Tuchel also oversaw a 2-0 beating of Albania and 3-0 success over Latvia in his opening contests in March, prior to which Lee Carsley's final two games ended in 3-0 and 5-0 wins over Greece and the Republic of Ireland respectively.

Ron Greenwood was in charge when England previously won five on the spin without shipping a goal, doing so against Hungary, Northern Ireland, Wales, Netherlands and Scotland 43 years ago.

The Three Lions were knocked out of the World Cup in the second round that year, though, and Saturday's display would not have raised hopes among the England faithful for the 2026 edition.

Tuchel made no bones about his side's mediocre display in sweltering conditions, and the German took particular issue with his players taking their foot off the gas in the closing stages.

Tuchel offers brutally honest reaction to Andorra win

"I am not happy with the performance, of course," Tuchel told englandfootball.com. "We can admit it is not what we expect from us. We need to do better.

"We played according to the plan but we couldn't keep the energy up. After 25 minutes, the energy, rhythm and determination was not there anymore. There was a lack of quality in the little details, passing, finishing and decision-making.

“I was most worried in the last 20 minutes because I did not like the attitude with which we ended this game. It felt almost like we have to play until the 93rd minute. I didn't like the lack of urgency, I felt it did not match the occasion.

“It is still a World Cup qualifier away from home. I didn't like it at all. All the players know because I said it in the dressing room. It is also necessary to have a look in detail and watch the match again."

England only have two full days to recuperate before they host Senegal in Tuesday's friendly at the City Ground, where Tuchel will be expected to ring the changes.

Bukayo Saka and Conor Gallagher were both unavailable against Andorra due to injury, but both men are expected to shake off their problems in time for the midweek contest.

Written by
Ben Knapton