Preview:England vs Serbia - prediction, team news, lineups

Already America bound, England's final home match of the World Cup 2026 Qualifying process takes place on Thursday, when the Three Lions welcome Serbia to Wembley.

Nothing can knock Thomas Tuchel's men off top spot in Group K, but the Eagles are still vying for a precious second-placed finish under new management.

Match preview

The absolute bare minimum is now complete for Tuchel, who could have rivalled the likes of Steve McClaren and Sam Allardyce for the most disastrous reign as England head coach had he failed to lead the 1966 World Cup winners to the 2026 edition of the tournament.

However, England have already qualified for the next global gathering with two matches to spare thanks to a flawless record in Group K, where they have claimed 18 points from a possible 18, while coincidentally also scoring 18 goals and shipping a grand total of zero.

The Three Lions confirmed their spot at the 48-team World Cup last month in a 5-0 battering of a beleaguered Latvia, thus opening up a seven-point lead over second-placed Albania, who will be their final preliminary opponents on Sunday.

Minnows Andorra have remarkably given the hosts their two toughest tests in Group K so far, but after a pair of underwhelming attacking displays against the section's basement side, England have found their attacking groove under the former Chelsea head coach.

The Three Lions enter Thursday's game seeking a third consecutive win by five goals or more in competitive football, as well as a fifth clean sheet on the spin in all tournaments after their straightforward friendly beating of Wales in October too.

Serbia coincidentally kept four shut-outs in a row between March 23 and September 6, but the Eagles travel to the English capital having shipped seven goals in their last three matches, six of which came under their now-former manager.

Dragan Stojkovic's final game in charge proved to be a humbling 1-0 home defeat to Albania on October 11, as the former midfielder resigned from his post immediately after the loss, leaving Zoran Mirkovic in temporary charge for Andorra three days down the line.

The Serbians and their new manager bounce ended their two-match losing run with a 3-1 comeback win over the Principality side, but Mirkovic has now stepped aside for Veljko Paunovic, the former Reading head coach who takes charge of his maiden Serbia match at Wembley - talk about a baptism of fire.

The 48-year-old's side sit one point adrift of Albania and are therefore very much still in playoff contention, but if they lose to England and the Red and Blacks overcome Andorra - as expected - on Thursday, their World Cup chances will be over.

Serbia have only ever failed to qualify for the World Cup once as an independent nation - missing the 2014 edition - but their fate lies out of their own hands against of a swift reunion with England, who embarrassed the Eagles 5-0 away from home just two months ago.

England World Cup Qualifying - Europe form:

England form (all competitions):

Serbia World Cup Qualifying - Europe form:

Team News

The usual injury withdrawals have already begun for England, who have lost Newcastle United duo Nick Pope and Anthony Gordon to issues this week, while Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi is highly unlikely to be involved despite reporting for duty.

Chelsea's Trevoh Chalobah and Manchester City's James Trafford have replaced Gordon and Pope in the England ranks, which also include three other uncapped players in Bayer Leverkusen's Jarell Quansah, Bournemouth's Alex Scott and Manchester City's Nico O'Reilly.

Fans may wish to see Tuchel experiment with top spot already secure, but the England boss is still expected to go strong on Thursday, when Jordan Pickford could record his 43rd Three Lions clean sheet to go level with Joe Hart in second place in the all-time charts.

Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden were the headline inclusions in this month's England squad, but only the former may force his way into the first XI at Wembley.

As for Serbia, the visitors are bemoaning the absence of all-time top scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic, who has not been selected for November's squad on account of an unspecified injury.

Mitrovic's absence deprives Serbia of a player who has scored an unrivalled 63 goals for the senior men's team - at least 25 more than anyone else - so the onus is on Dusan Vlahovic and Luka Jovic to step up in his absence.

However, there may only be room for one up front for the visitors, as Paunovic has preferred to use a four-man defence in recent years, in contrast to the 3-5-2 or 3-4-1-2 systems that Stojkovic tended to employ.

England possible starting lineup:

Pickford; James, Konsa, Stones, Burn; Anderson, Rice; Saka, Bellingham, Rashford; Kane

Serbia possible starting lineup:

Petrovic; Mimovic, Milenkovic, Pavlovic, Terzic; Gudelj, Lukic; Zivkovic, Samardzic, Kostic; Vlahovic

We say: England 3-1 Serbia

With a new face at the helm and likely also a new system - one that poses more attacking promise than their previous shape - a Serbia side needing to go all-out for victory should pose a threat to the England backline.

However, such gung-ho tactics will inevitably leave gaps in defence for the hosts to exploit, and with England's new-found attacking verve, we have full confidence in Tuchel's men to make it seven wins from seven in Group K.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.