West Ham United’s No20 Jarrod Bowen won his 20th England cap in Sunday’s 2-0 FIFA World Cup qualifying Group K win in Albania.
The Hammers skipper started in his customary position on the right wing for Thomas Tuchel’s side in Tirana, where the Three Lions completed a perfect campaign.
Two goals from Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane meant England finished with eight wins from eight qualifiers and scored 22 without reply.
It could have been 23 had Bowen’s powerful low shot in the first half not been well turned past the post by Albania goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha.
England had already qualified for next summer’s World Cup finals in North America, and Bowen will hope his performances for West Ham and England over the coming months impress Tuchel sufficiently to earn him a place in the 26-man squad.
As it is, Bowen already ranks sixth on West Ham’s list of most-capped England internationals behind only Bobby Moore (108), Sir Geoff Hurst (49), Sir Trevor Brooking (47), Declan Rice (43) and Martin Peters (33).
Later on Sunday evening, Aaron Wan-Bissaka started as DR Congo edged past Nigeria on penalties to win the African qualifying play-offs.
After defeating Cameroon 1-0 in the semi-final, DR Congo came from a goal down to draw 1-1 and force extra-time against Nigeria in Rabat, Morroco. Wan-Bissaka played the full 120 minutes on his sixth appearance for the country of his parents' birth.
The Leopards edged the shootout 4-3 to win through to the inter-confederation play-offs, where six nations will play-off for two places at the World Cup in March 2026.
