by Gregors Spricis
With yet another World Cup qualifier nearing its end, Latvia host Andorra and England in their last two home games of the campaign, with the England national team visiting the country and its capital city Riga for the first time in history.
This is also the last international break to be played in October, as starting from next year and onwards until 2030, September and October international breaks will be merged into one. It will begin on the 21st of September and last until the 6th of October. In this time period, each national team will play four matches.
Squad selection
Two changes were made to the Paolo Nicolato’s roster if we look back at the September qualifier games against Serbia and Albania. Alvis Jaunzems and Bruno Melnis, who both recently suffered injuries, were replaced by two newcomers to the national team – Ingars Pūlis (FK Tukums) and Danila Patijčuks (FK Liepāja).
Bruno Melnis had to be left out following an ankle injury in a league match against Grobiņa, while Alvis Jaunzems has suffered a serious injury, which is set to leave him out of action until the start of 2026.
Interestingly enough, two strikers were called up to fill their place, as for both it is their first-ever call-up to the senior national team.
In an interview with LTV, Ingars Pūlis revealed his reaction once learning he had been called up:
“I was really looking forward to this [the call-up], I was really surprised, when I was called up. It’s hard to explain, how happy I was. I was basically shaking. I’m happy that it finally happened.”
Pūlis had been nearing the call-up to the national team for some time now. At Tukums, he’s finally having his first complete season, getting regular minutes and being picture perfect in front of goal, scoring 16 and assisting two so far in the league this season. Thanks to him, Tukums have escaped the relegation battle and can start preparing for the 2026 Virsliga season.
It’s also the first call-up for the 22-year-old Liepāja forward Danila Patijčuks, who, unlike Pūlis, has had previous international experience in Latvia youth teams. He has appeared for both U17s and U21s.
Now, thanks to bright performances at Liepāja, he’s earned his first call-up to the big leagues.
A late addition to the squad was Dario Šits, who at first wasn’t included in the initial 25-player list. However, thanks to an early recovery from injury, he’s up and ready to go. In an interview with LTV, Dario dedicated kind words to the Atletico Madrid reserve team’s medical staff:
“I’m ready! A big thank you to Atletico Madrid’s medical department for a premature recovery.”
Once again, Latvia will be without its captain Kristers Tobers, who suffered another injury after Aberdeen’s 2:0 victory over Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership. He’s expected to return around early November.
Other players who weren’t selected are injured Roberts Uldriķis and Raimonds Krollis.
A look into the opponents
England
The home of football. Although having originally invented the sport, the England national team, ironically, have never been ranked first in the FIFA country rankings (currently 4th), but have held the title as the best team in the world for four years after lifting the World Cup in 1966.
The 2020 and 2024 European Championship finalists have been the main nation for the development of young football stars in the history of the sport. David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, Wayne Rooney – you name it.
This is the most anticipated match in the recent history of Latvian football, as the Daugava Stadium is expected to be full, with around 2,500 travelling fans from England.
Thomas Tuchel’s men have so far had a perfect campaign – five wins from five, 13 goals scored, and zero conceded. However, it doesn’t come with controversy and frustration from some fans.
With the 2026 World Cup approaching, the English supporters are not entirely convinced of their squad and chances next summer. The 3:1 loss to Senegal in a friendly back in June also adds to the worries.
Firstly, leaving out big names like the 2024/25 England Men’s Player of the Year Jude Bellingham, saying that “there are no guarantees” for big names to get back into the squad. Tuchel commented on this decision, saying:
“I understand the focus on Jude, he’s a very special player, and for a special player, there can always be special rules. For this camp, we stick with our straightforward decision to invite the same team. He deserves always to be in the camp. There is an extra layer on top of it, the situation that he has not gathered fully rhythm yet at Real Madrid. He is back in the team, he hasn’t finished one full match and only started one match. He is at the moment in the period where he gets rhythm, gets back to full strength. That is the extra layer to this decision.”
Also, Phil Foden, whose form at Manchester City has improved, and Jack Grealish, who is shining for Everton. Tuchel also insisted that there is “no problem” between him and Foden or him and Grealish:
“Phil is back to influencing games, deciding games for Manchester City. Jack is very close to being the best version of himself. He’s a very special player and very special character.”
Secondly, worries about the options at the centre-back positions. As of now, Tuchel’s first choice of pairing is Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi and Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa. However, apart from them, it looks pretty raw. There’s Dan Burn (Newcastle United) and Jarell Quansah (Bayer Leverkusen), as well as experienced John Stones (Manchester City), but it doesn’t convince the England fans entirely.
Still, the Three Lions’ squad is star-studded with players like Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Marcus Rashford (Barcelona), and Eberechi Eze (Arsenal).
Jordan Henderson (now at Brentford) is also included. He will visit the Daugava Stadium for the second time this year, the last time being the infamous 1:0 loss to the Latvian champions RFS in the Europa League while playing for Ajax back in January.
The team’s squad value of €1.01bn versus Latvia’s €8.75m also speaks for itself.
Harry Kane is the one to really look out for. The England skipper has already scored 19 (!) goals and handed out three assists this season. Let me remind you that it’s just October…
Marcus Rashford is also one of the players to be singled out. On loan at Barcelona from Manchester United, the 27-year-old winger has 7 G/A in his last seven games for the Spanish champions.
In the first meeting versus Latvia at the start of the year, England picked up an easy 3:0 victory in front of a crowded Wembley Stadium in London. Adding to the already previously mentioned Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden, Curtis Jones and Kyle Walker are also the players who appeared in the game back in March, but won’t travel to Riga.
Thomas Tuchel looked ahead at the match, saying:
“We can’t go into the game thinking ‘we’re almost qualified, it’s an easy match in Latvia if we look at the table’.”
England will undergo a friendly match against Wales on the 9th of October in front of a sold-out Wembley Stadium before travelling to Riga.
Andorra
The match against England is not the only encounter for Latvia in this international break. Before playing England on the 14th of October, Latvia also host Andorra, a nation whose squad value is two times lower than Latvia’s, €3.56m to be exact.
Andorra haven’t won an official match since September 2022, when they defeated Liechtenstein 2:0 away from home.
As predicted, Andorra sit dead last in their group this qualifying campaign, having lost all five matches they’ve played so far and having a goal difference of 0:10… Yes, they haven’t scored a goal in 450 consecutive minutes.
Both teams met in the opening matchday of Group K as Latvia snatched a tough win over in Andorra. A goal from Dario Šits was enough for them to earn three points. However, if it wasn’t for Krišjānis Zviedris’ heroics late in the match, things could’ve gone more south.
Most of the team’s players play either in the Andorian championship or for the lower league clubs in Spain.
The team’s brightest player is the 24-year-old keeper Iker Alvarez, who’s having a great start to the season for Cordoba in LaLiga2, the second tier of Spanish football.
Former Villarreal player so far in the league has kept one clean sheet in three matches, leading them to a win against Real Zaragoza (1:0) as well as draws against Real Sociedad B (1:1), against whom he saved a penalty, and Racing Santander (2:2).
He also makes 23% of Andorra’s squad value, being valued at 800k.
Andorra’s most recent match was a goalless draw against Estonia on the 9th of September.
Match schedule
Latvia vs Andorra – Saturday, 11 October, 4 pm Latvian time
Latvia vs England – Tuesday, 14 October, 9:45 pm Latvian time
