Atmosphere of Wembley
“Putin is a dickhead, lalalalalalala,” the Latvian fan sector chanted yesterday during the match against England. The 2026 World Cup qualifier drew a nearly full Wembley crowd of 79,000 people, and the result was fairly predictable – 3:0 in favor of the hosts.
See also: England vs. Latvia. Video review of the match for March 24
In one of the most international cities in the world, there is a guest sector for any national team game. So the Latvians got out their scarves, which are usually worn to hockey games that nobody needs in Great Britain, as well as posters with the black cat from the Oscar-winning film Straume.
Wembley is the largest stadium in the UK and the whole area has changed dramatically in the last few years. The traditionally south-east Asian area (and therefore home to the best curry in town) has seen a lot of massive construction and the wastelands around the stadium and the traditional English two-storey buildings have been replaced by new 'luxury' apartment blocks and a whole new infrastructure. Something similar has happened in Stratford, where West Ham play at the London Stadium – the area has changed dramatically after a new stadium was built there for the 2012 Olympics.
England games are an affordable way for people to see their favourite players on the pitch without having to shell out £100+ for a ticket, and the affordability of tickets means families can go to games: England games seem to be where the biggest number of children are (and if you think there's still hooliganism in the stands in England, that's been a long time coming and not everywhere)
Latvia, worth a combined $10 million, held out for 38 minutes before a healthy Rhys James finally scored from a free kick. There was no stopping England from there: Harry Kane scored, followed by Ebereci Eze, who scored his first goal for the national team.
Tuchel continues to favour Ezri Konsa and Miles Lewis-Skelly, and instead of Kyle Walker, who played against Albania, and Dan Byrne, who made his first international appearance, he has opted for Marc Guehi and his former Chelsea protégé Reece James. James did not disappoint, scoring a stunning free-kick to return to the national team after a long string of injuries.
Reese's sister Lauren also plays for the national team, making them the first and only brother and sister pair to play for England. By the way, although the women's national team matches do not gather a full stadium, the popularity of women's football is constantly growing, especially after the English women became European Champions in 2022. For example, more than 45 thousand people came to the last match against the Spanish women.
As expected, Tuchel's side were completely dominant, controlling the match for 74 per cent of the time and had 27 shots, including eight on target, while the Latvians had just three shots, one of which was on target – straight into the hands of Pickford.
The Latvians habitually sat in deep defense and for the first 40 minutes they managed to hold off the onslaught of the English. Marcus Rashford tried to be active, but it was of little use, and goalkeeper Krišjānis Zviedris saved his team.
Jude Bellingham was once again lucky not to receive a second yellow card for a foul on Raivis Jurkovskis, but it has become commonplace for the young Birmingham man to get away with a lot.
RFS forward Janis Ikaunieks failed to shine, and the England team is a different level of opponent than in the Latvian championship or the Europa League. And if for the England team a victory over the 140th team in the world is absolutely routine, then for the Latvian players and fans the game against England is an undoubted celebration, regardless of the score.