England vs. Serbia—2026 World Cup Qualifier: Preview, Predictions and Lineups

England host Serbia in a World Cup qualifier on Thursday evening which has a lot more significance for the visitors than the home side.

Thomas Tuchel’s Three Lions became the first European nation to qualify for next summer’s tournament last month after racking up a perfect run of six wins, scoring 18 goals while conceding precisely zero. Serbia, by contrast, are third in Group K, one point behind Albania who reside in the second-place, playoff spot.

Serbia conclude their qualification campaign against Latvia this weekend while Albania, who are up against winless Andorra tonight, host England in their final qualifier.

Thursday’s Wembley clash will be Veljko Paunović’s first match in the dugout after Dragan Stojković resigned from his post as Serbia manager following last month’s shock home defeat to Albania. Anything other than an easy England win would represent an even bigger surprise.

What Time Does England vs. Serbia Kick-Off?

Location: London, England
Stadium: Wembley Stadium
Date: Thursday, Nov. 13
Kick-off Time: 7:45 p.m. GMT / 2:45 p.m. ET / 11:45 p.m. PT
Referee: Ivan Kružliak (SVK)
VAR: Clay Ruperti (NED)

England vs. Serbia Head-to-Head Record (All Games)

England: 2 wins
Serbia: 0 wins
Draws: 0

Last meeting: Serbia 0–5 England (Sept. 9, 2025)—World Cup qualifier

Current Form (All Competitions)

England	Serbia
Latvia 0–5 England - 14/10/25	Andorra 1–3 Serbia - 14/10/25
England 3–0 Wales - 09/10/25	Serbia 0–1 Albania - 11/10/25
Serbia 0–5 England - 09/09/25	Serbia 0–5 England - 09/09/25
England 2–0 Andorra - 06/09/25	Latvia 0–1 Serbia - 06/09/25
England 1–3 Senegal - 10/06/25	Serbia 3–0 Andorra - 10/06/25

How to Watch England vs. Serbia on TV and Live Stream

Country	TV Channel/Live Stream
United States	fuboTV, ViX, FOX One, Fox Soccer Plus
United Kingdom	ITV 1, ITVX, STV Scotland, UTV, STV Player
Canada	DAZN Canada, fuboTV Canada

READ MORE: Full list of broadcasters for England vs. Serbia around the world

England Team News

Marc Guéhi at a press conference. — Marc Guéhi is an injury doubt. | Crystal Pix/MB Media/Getty Images

Crystal Palace centre back Marc Guéhi has been ruled out of Serbia’s visit after sustaining a foot injury which prevented him from featuring in Sunday’s goalless draw with Brighton. The commanding defender was expected to withdraw from the squad—an option taken by the Newcastle United pairing of Anthony Gordon and Nick Pope—but Tuchel is optimistic that Guéhi can play some role against Albania this weekend.

Any concerns over Elliot Anderson’s availability were quashed by Tuchel. The German coach claimed that Nottingham Forest’s midfield maestro “feels no pain” and is “a key player” for England.

On the wider point of selection, Tuchel assured reporters that there will be no “experimentation” in this camp even though England have already qualified. This stance suggests that the former Chelsea and Bayern Munich manager will stick with his 4-2-3-1 shape, although there could be a few different faces in the lineup.

Jude Bellingham should surely be restored to the No. 10 position while Manchester City’s in-form Nico O’Reilly could be explored as a solution to England’s persistent left back problem.

England Predicted Lineup vs. Serbia

Thomas Tuchel’s predicted XI for England. — Thomas Tuchel has some injury issues to juggle. | FotMob

England predicted lineup vs. Serbia (4-2-3-1): Pickford; James, Konsa, Stones, O’Reilly; Anderson, Rice; Saka, Bellingham, Rashford; Kane.

Serbia Team News

🦾🇷🇸 #ENGSRB #WCQ #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/7f9OVBeeDu
— Fudbalski savez Srbije | FA of Serbia (@FSSrbije) November 12, 2025

Serbia had a very clear—if flawed—identity under Stojković. Rarely did they stray from a back three with two strikers, drawing upon the superior technical quality of their midfielders but at the cost of a cohesive unit.

Paunović only once deviated from a back four at Real Oviedo this season—when he deployed rearguard action with a line of five to try and hold Real Madrid at bay. It didn’t work.

The new manager’s adaptation hasn’t been aided by a raft of key absentees. Captain Aleksandar Mitrović didn’t join up with the squad while both Milinković-Savić brothers, Sergej and Vanja, are also missing.

Serbia Predicted Lineup vs. England

Veljko Paunović’s XI. — Veljko Paunović has some drop outs to fill. | FotMob

Serbia Predicted Lineup vs. England (3-5-2): Petrović; Veljković, Milenković, Pavlović; Zivković, Lukić, Gudelj, Samardzić, Kostić; Jović, Vlahović.

England vs. Serbia Score Prediction

Paunović said that his first job is to instil “the belief that we can get a result against England that will leave us with a chance of having a playoff against Latvia” in his players. Whether Serbia’s manager believes that is debatable. Not many do.

For all the hand-wringing about the vibrancy and fluency of Tuchel’s England, they have proven to be effective in this qualification campaign. The biggest battle the Three Lions will likely face on Thursday will be getting the Wembley crowd excited.