England Player Ratings vs. Czechia: Barcelona’s Anthony Gordon Keeps Hot Streak Going

England enjoyed a first win of the 2026–27 UEFA Nations League on Tuesday, walking away with a 2–0 result in Prague against a Czechia team that played most of the match with a player disadvantage.

Czechia made the first chance of the game when Pavel Šulc capitalized on Elliot Anderson failing to clear, bringing an early save out of James Trafford after five minutes.

England had most of the ball, with the Czech hosts sitting deeper than Spain had done, but struggled to create opportunities in those opening stages. That began to change when Morgan Rogers struck the post 15 minutes in, with two rebounds blocked. Midway through the first half, Anthony Gordon threatened but missed the target. He went closer a few minutes later, but ex-Manchester United goalkeeper Matěj Kovář was there to deny the Barcelona winger.

In between those two Gordon chances, Czechia lost the dangerous Šulc to a red card. His reckless, mid-calf tackle on Anderson was initially punished with a yellow card, but a VAR intervention and a second look from the referee resulted in an ejection instead.

Kovář saved a shot from Harry Kane in first-half stoppage time but couldn’t stop Gordon’s headed opener a couple of minutes after the restart. The in-form forward stooped low to meet a bouncing cross and directed the ball into the net.

England struck the woodwork again when Ladislav Krejcí deflected a Lewis Hall cross onto the post, with the lead eventually doubled by Harry Kane in the 69th minute. The Bayern Munich star reacted quickest to a loose ball and fired in with his left foot from eight yards out.

Rogers, Eberechi Eze and Jude Bellingham could all have extended England’s lead late on.

One Thing We Can’t Ignore

Thomas Tuchel didn’t want Trent Alexander-Arnold at the World Cup during the summer. “The amount of players in a certain position,” was the manager’s reasoning for excluding the Real Madrid defender, despite injury-prone Reece James being the only actual right back named.

That snub was coming, though. Alexander-Arnold had struggled with injuries in the early months of last season and was tellingly left out of the squad Tuchel named for crucial March friendlies.

He was given a reprieve for this camp—as a right back despite playing in midfield for Real Madrid in the Champions League—and was told “it is now time to fight for his place.”

Alexander-Arnold hadn’t played for England since June 2025, while it was almost two years since his last start—against Finland in October 2024.

All of that time out of the team feels a waste. He’s still probably the best right back England have and what difference could his ability have made at the World Cup?

It was a cross of the highest quality that made England’s opening goal for Gordon, delivering the ball into an area where Czechia could not defend it.

Tuchel wanted Alexander-Arnold to “perform” to justify his place in the team, and it was a sprint to retrieve a loose ball ahead of Czech defender Krejcí.

England Player Ratings vs. Czechia (4-2-3-1)

England team lineup vs. Czechia — England won in Prague for the first time since 1908. | Eddie Keogh/The FA/Getty Images

*Ratings provided by FotMob*

GK: James Trafford—7.6: Important early save on his second-successive start. He didn’t need to do much else beyond a relatively comfortable stop in the second half.

RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold—8.4: Having been unused against Spain over the weekend, his overdue return to the England XI went about well as it could.

CB: Trevoh Chalobah—7.6: More comfortable than probably expected once Czechia was reduced to 10 players. Misplaced only one pass out of 79 attempted.

CB: Marc Guéhi—7.7: Needed an error-free performance after the Spain fiasco.

LB: Lewis Hall—8.2: Transfer speculation has done his reputation wonders in recent months, but this was an opportunity to stake his claim as an England starter, and he took it.

CM: Elliot Anderson—7.6: Got away with an early mistake that could have led to a Czechia goal but recovered well enough to play a decent match overall.

CM: Myles Lewis-Skelly—7.4: Things might change when Declan Rice is available again, but Tuchel clearly wants to give him this chance in midfield. Solid performance but off at halftime after picking up a yellow card in the opening 45.

RM: Bukayo Saka—7.2: More impact than he’d had against Spain. Still can do more.

AM: Morgan Rogers—6.8: His radar seemed a little off in this one. Involved plenty, including hitting the post, but nothing quite fell for him.

LM: Anthony Gordon—8.4: Has scored in successive England games during this international window. Maybe it’s all that soccer intelligence he has. It’s a shame English fans are not smart enough to “appreciate” that or realize how good he is.

ST: Harry Kane—7.4: Got his customary goal. It’s now nine in 11 England appearances in 2026.

SUB: Eberechi Eze (46’ for Lewis-Skelly) —6.5: Created a couple of chances and could have scored one himself.

SUB: Alex Scott (70’ for Anderson) —6.8: Becomes only the second player from Guernsey to make a senior England men’s appearance. His step-sister, Maya Le Tissier, is also an England international.

SUB: Jude Bellingham (71’ for Kane) —6.2: Given limited minutes to stay fresh for upcoming matches. Forced a good save in stoppage time at the end.

SUB: Rio Ngumoha (71’ for Saka) —6.5: Looked promising on his senior debut at the age of 18.

SUB: Morgan Gibbs-White (81’ for Gordon) —N/A

Subs not used: Jason Steele (GK), Jordan Pickford (GK), Ezri Konsa, Jarell Quansah, Jarrad Branthwaite, James Garner, Jude Bellingham, Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

What the Ratings Tell Us

Anthony Gordon scored two games in a row. | Pavel Lebeda/Soccrates/Getty Images

Jokes aside about the interview he gave comparing perceptions of him in Spain with England, Anthony Gordon is on a serious hot streak right now.
Harry Kane doesn’t need to play well to score goals and have a meaningful impact. The England captain only had 19 touches, xG of just 0.13, but found the net to contribute to the win.
Lewis Hall is a genuine contender to start for England at Euro 2028. The Newcastle United left back is competing with Nico O’Reilly, who is not a natural defender, and combined really well with ex-Magpies teammate Gordon on that side.

The Numbers That Explain England’s Triumph

Czechia struggled with 10 players. After a bright start, the host team didn’t have it to compete with England without a full XI on the field. Less possession, smaller xG, and poorer passing.
England didn’t make that player advantage count, only creating two big chances and scoring just twice from seven shots on target. Sometimes, playing against 10 is weirdly harder.
The early save from James Trafford to deny Pavel Šulc mattered. It was the only big chance Czechia created and keeping that out made way for the shutout.

Statistic	Czechia	England
Possession	34%	66%
Expected Goals (xG)	0.33	1.37
Total Shots	6	22
Shots on Target	2	7
Big Chances	1	2
Pass Accuracy	82%	92%
Fouls Committed	9	12
Corners	1	6

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