England will be seeking to bounce back from a chaotic 3-2 defeat to world champions Spain with a win over Czechia in the Nations League on Tuesday.
Thomas Tuchel’s side came from behind against Luis de la Fuente’s men to take the lead and make it 2-1 in the first half but crumbled as Spain showed their class to mount a comeback and eventually won the game 3-2.
England certainly “embraced the chaos” in that match, for better or for worse.
Czechia, meanwhile, also began their 2026-27 Nations League campaign with a loss after falling to a 2-1 defeat to Croatia.
41-year-old Luka Modrić showed once again that he continues to age like a fine wine, as he opened the scoring for the Croats. Czechia then equalised in the 54th minute but Croatia restored their lead in the 77th minute and held on to beat Czechia.
Here’s everything you need to know about the match.
How to watch:
The match will be available to watch on ITV 1 in the UK. It will be shown in Australia on BeIN Sports, in India on Sony Sports Network, and on FuboTV and ViX in the U.S. Kickoff is at 7.45 p.m. BST. You can also follow ESPN’s live updates here.
Key Details:
Date, kick-off time:
UK BST: Tuesday, Sept. 30, 7.45 p.m.
U.S. ET: Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2.45 p.m.
India IST: Wednesday, Oct 1, 12.15 a.m.
Australia AEST: Wednesday, Oct 1, 4.45 a.m.
Venue: Fortuna Arena, Prague
Referee: Umut Meler
VAR: Fedayi San
Injury and Team News
England
Tuchel’s squad was hit by a series of withdrawals before the Spain match, including Cole Palmer, Declan Rice and Marcus Rashford. Tino Livramento and Kobbie Mainoo were also ruled out of England‘s upcoming fixtures.
England will be without those players and may be sweating on the fitness of Nico O’Reilly and Ezri Konsa, who sat out England’s training session on Monday, the Press Association has reported.
Tino Livramento, D, injury: OUT
Nico O’Reilly, D, injury: DOUBT
Ezri Konsa, D, injury: DOUBT
Kobbie Mainoo, M, injury: OUT
Cole Palmer, M, injury: OUT
Declan Rice, M, injury: OUT
Marcus Rashford, F, injury: OUT
Czechia
David Jurásek, D, injury: OUT
David Zima, D, injury: OUT
Tomáš Vlček, D, injury: OUT
Lukáš Provod, F, injury: OUT
Tomáš Chorý, F, injury: OUT
Denis Višinský, F, injury: OUT
Expected lineups
England predicted XI (4-2-3-1)
Jarell Quansah, Ezri Konsa, Marc Guéhi, Nico O’Reilly
Elliot Anderson, Myles Lewis-Skelly
Bukayo Saka, Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon
Czechia predicted XI (4-2-3-1)
Lukáš Horníček
Vladimír Coufal, Robin Hranáč, Štěpán Chaloupek, Jiří Sláma
Michal Sadílek, Lukáš Červ
Lukáš Ambros, Pavel Šulc, Adam Karabec
Adam Hložek
Talking points
Can England bounce back after chaotic Spain defeat?
England’s encounter with Spain at Wembley was a thrilling one. Despite the result, it was an end to end match and England’s attacking prowess — particularly on the counterattack — will have served as something of a tonic following the manner in which they lost the World Cup semifinal to Argentina in the summer.
England fans will have been encouraged by the display, as the Three Lions fought back from 1-0 down to take the lead. But they were unable to hold on and the turning point came when Kane missed the chance to put England 3-1 up from the penalty spot. Spain equalised six minutes later through Álex Baena and Mikel Oyarzabal struck to score the winner in the 74th minute.
Once Spain went 3-2 up, England had no reply. Against Czechia, they will expect to dominate the game and will be heavy favourites to win. Bouncing back with an immediate victory would be a boost for Tuchel — but questions will still remain over England’s poor record against top-10 teams.
How might England line-up amid injury concerns?
Just one game into the Nations League, Tuchel’s squad is already looking rather thin. Following the withdrawals of several players, defenders Nico O’Reilly and Ezri Konsa are now doubts to face Czechia after missing team training on Monday.
Perhaps Jarrad Branthwaite of Everton, who only has two senior international caps, will play in place of Konsa in central defence. In that case, Branthwaite would partner with Marc Guéhi at the back.
Newcastle’s Lewis Hall feels like the obvious replacement for O’Reilly at left-back.
In midfield, Myles Lewis-Skelly will likely partner Elliot Anderson again in a double pivot with Rice having withdrawn from the squad last week.
What do the numbers say?
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In five head-to-heads between these two, England have won three of those matches, Czechia has won one and they have drawn one.
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The last competitive fixture between Czechia and England came in the 2021 UEFA European Championship, which England won 1-0.
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England’s biggest win over Czechia came in March 2019, when the Three Lions scored five goals. Raheem Sterling scored a hat trick that day.
Information from ESPN’s Global Sports Research contributed to this story.
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