Thomas Tuchel's England side broke down a stubborn Latvia resistance to win 3-0 at Wembley.
England relied on a stunning Reece James free-kick to break the deadlock having been frustrated by the visitors, the Chelsea defender curling home a sublime effort on his first England start for more than two years.
It's simply MAGNIFICENT! 💥
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) March 24, 2025
A freekick of pure quality from Reece James ✨#ITVFootball | #ThreeLions | #CFC pic.twitter.com/xgz9xca16u
Declan Rice laid on the second for Harry Kane to score from close range, before substitute Eberechi Eze's deflected strike gave the Crystal Palace man his first England goal.
Latvia had threatened more than once in the first half but were content to pack their own penalty area even after James' first-half opener, their resistance eventually collapsing midway through the second as England made it two from two under Tuchel.
"It was not an easy match," Tuchel told ITV. "We saw a lot of good things, created good chances. We needed a free-kick to unlock it. I'm happy with the attitude, energy and desire. We will get there.
"I know Reece and the quality the boy has is amazing. He has every right to be proud and happy with his performance. He is in excellent shape. He looks sharp, in shape and the quality there can be no doubt.
"The second half we started to slow the game down and made little movement, which makes no sense. But the second goal was better as we showed acceleration from one of our sixes. We encourage everyone to have these late accelerations but we struggled a bit until the goal."
England's next chance to impress under their new boss in World Cup qualifying comes away at Andorra in June.
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