Gareth Southgate’s team are three points clear of second-placed Poland in Group I after winning six of their eight qualifiers and drawing the other two.
The Three Lions could have booked their place at the finals during the previous international break in October but were surprisingly held to a 1-1 draw by Hungary at Wembley. Southgate faced criticism for his decision-making on that occasion after withdrawing Jack Grealish early in the second half.
Nevertheless, England are expected to finish in pole position and qualify automatically, rather than face a potentially tricky play-off in March. Portugal, Spain and Switzerland are among the nations currently occupying the runners-up slot in their respective groups.
England’s first game on Friday night sees them take on an Albania side that has ambitions of finishing second, given they are two points behind Poland and have an easier final match.
Goals from Harry Kane and Mason Mount ensured a 2-0 victory for England in the reverse fixture in Tirana back in March, but Southgate and his players will be wary of playing against a motivated team that has an in-form striker within their ranks in Southampton’s loanee from Chelsea, Armando Broja.
A win against Albania would all but secure England’s place in Qatar ahead of their final match against officially the worst team in international football.
San Marino are bottom of Fifa’s most recent world ranking charts in 210th position, 205 places lower than their opponents on Monday.
Southgate may use the match as an opportunity to give some of his less experienced players minutes in an England shirt, including uncapped Arsenal duo Aaron Ramsdale and Emile Smith Rowe.
The game will be played at San Marino Stadium which has a capacity of just over 6,500.
The meeting with San Marino will conclude England’s schedule for the calendar year, with the next international break set to take place between 21-29 March 2022. Fixtures will be announced by the Football Association in due course.
Emile Smith Rowe is the poster boy of a new Arsenal
By Daniel Storey
Emile Smith Rowe has experienced a lot for a player who has only started 42 league matches in his career.
He’s appeared against Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga for RB Leipzig. He’s had a half-season in the Championship. He’s played under Unai Emery, Freddie Ljungberg and Mikel Arteta at Arsenal. He’s been the subject of an audacious approach from another club that came after he signed a new contract. He’s been called up for the England senior team.
Smith Rowe’s Arsenal career has occurred at two different speeds: slowly and then lightning fast. Before Boxing Day last year, he had only made two league appearances for the club. Since then he has started 28 of their 35 Premier League matches. Smith Rowe only made his England Under-21 debut in March but may make his senior debut in the next week.
But then that is Smith Rowe in a nutshell – he’s in a hurry to make things happen. Hurry is not the same as rush, you understand; rushing indicates panic. One of the striking aspects of Smith Rowe’s play is that he seems to know exactly what he must do next and the speed at which he must do it. He understands when to surge forward and when to protect the ball, when to play a pass and when to delay it, when to move into space and when to hang back.
In Smith Rowe, Arsenal fans have their new hero. They have an attacking midfielder who delights in creating goals and scoring them. They have an Arsenal supporter who has declared his desire to be an Arsenal legend. They have a young man who has come an awfully long way in a short period of time and demonstrated a remarkable ability to deal with each step without losing the appealing exuberance of youth. This time next week, they might have only their third homegrown England debutant in the last 10 years.
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