England make World Cup qualifying history. What record did they break?

England defeated Albania 2–0 in the final match of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers and, in doing so, rewrote the history books of European qualifying.

Details: According to Opta, England have become only the second European team ever to win all of their World Cup qualifying matches without conceding a single goal.

The last team to achieve this feat was Yugoslavia during the qualifiers for the 1954 World Cup. Back then, they won four matches without conceding; England have managed twice as many victories.

We also reported that since the start of Euro 2020 qualifying in 2019, Bayern Munich’s striker has scored 40 goals in qualifiers for major tournaments (the World Cup and the European Championship). Among European players, only Cristiano Ronaldo comes close with 32 goals.

Reminder: The English Football Association has put forward an initiative to reform the qualification system for both the World Cup and the European Championship.