Tuchel’s side also did not concede a single goal during that run, while they found the net 22 times themselves.
England make history by matching Spain’s record
England had already secured qualification before this week’s games against Serbia and Albania, but Tuchel wanted them to finish the year in style.
By beating Albania and keeping a clean sheet, the Three Lions ensured this was a perfect qualifying campaign.
In fact, they have now won their last 10 competitive matches without conceding.
Spain – between October 2014 and June 2016 – are the only other European nation to achieve that feat.
Thomas Tuchel guided England through an impressive run of results
Getty Images
England have been utterly dominant during that run, and they faced just 12 shots on target.
Three of those came against Albania and the hosts did cause them problems at times, primarily through lively winger Arber Hoxha.
England, however, were largely in control. Goalkeeper Dean Henderson, one of seven changes from Thursday’s win over Serbia, put in an assured display.
Ahead of him, debutant Jarell Quansah had a solid game at right-back and, after a slow start, England’s attack clicked late on.
Kane struck twice in the space of eight minutes, with his second goal a bullet header from substitute Marcus Rashford’s cross.
Stones experiment fails to deliver
Tuchel has made no secret of his desire to play John Stones in midfield.
Back in September, Stones had been in contention to operate as a No6 for England, but injury forced him to pull of the squad for games against Andorra and Serbia.
Tuchel finally got his wish on Sunday night. Stones was picked to play at centre-back alongside Dan Burn, however, when England had the ball he pushed into midfield.
It meant England built up in, essentially, a 3-2-2-3 formation, with a back three of Nico O’Reilly, Burn and Quansah.
John Stones did not suit his midfield inversion
REUTERS
The biggest impact of Stones playing in midfield was ahead of him. Declan Rice had greater licence to get forward to support Kane and Jude Bellingham.
Rice had England’s first two shots of the game and, inside the opening 30 minutes, no player had more touches inside the penalty area.
Stones helped England dominate possession, but the midfield was congested and struggled to create.
Tuchel ditched the experiment at half time, with Stones no longer pushing forward.
Kane vindicated on importance of set-pieces
England were more threatening after the break, following their switch to a more conventional style of build-up.
In the end, however, it was a set-piece that eventually gave the Three Lions the breakthrough they were chasing.
Bukayo Saka swung in a corner from the right and the ball found its way to Kane, who was able to bundle it home.
Harry Kane scored England’s opener from a corner
The FA via Getty Images
It was a goal that underlined the importance of set-pieces, which Kane spoke about on the eve of this match.
“We want to build a book of set plays,” he said. “There is not a lot of time to practise in a tournament.
“You want to have an NFL playbook where you look at the opposition and see if they are zonal or man-mark and we can pick what we want to do.”
England have two great set-piece takers in Rice and Saka, who have transformed Arsenal’s threat from corners.
Intriguingly, however, Rice did not take any of England’s four corners before he went off, with Adam Wharton getting the nod instead.
