Weekend Review: Kane enables England's flawless World Cup qualifying campaign

England (3/10) ended their World Cup 2026 qualification without conceding a goal after beating Albania 2-0 on Sunday evening.

The Three Lions head to North America with an unblemished record under Thomas Tuchel, after a Harry Kane double in Tirana.

England also won 2-0 at Wembley against Serbia last week in their first game of the final international break of 2025.

And while the results were to be expected, the bookies are lining up Kane and co as one of the favourites to lift the World Cup next year.

Betfred’s Alan Firkins said: “England have qualified in style for next year’s World Cup with a blemish-free record – eight wins, no losses, and precisely no goals conceded.

“I think I’ve seen this movie before, but we’ll head to Canada, Mexico and the US with our customary gusto before colliding with painful reality at some point.

“England are 6/1 second favourites to end what will be a 60 year wait for any repeat of the ’66 heroics, behind Spain (4/1). As ever, it’s a tough ask.”

Reflecting on the wins, Midnite senior trader Alex Firth noted: “It was a quieter week for football with the international break, however England picked up a 2-0 victory at home to Serbia courtesy of goals from Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze.

“Saka was 5/1 to open the scoring pre-match. England sealed another 2-0 victory, this time away to Albania, on Sunday with Harry Kane grabbing a brace, which he was 11/2 for.”

Ireland (11/4) got a famous 2-0 win over Portugal, while Erling Haaland and Norway (23/10) are marching to the World Cup after trouncing Italy 4-1.

In horseracing, Panic Attack won the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham under Harry Skelton.

The 6/1 chance bested the favourite Vincenzo which ended up in second, with Panic Attack becoming the first mare to win the race since Happy Diva in 2019.

Firkins said: “Cheltenham’s November meeting is a signpost in the developing National Hunt season, and weekend’s gathering defied the dreadful weather and provided some magnificent racing.

“Team Skelton confirmed their pre-eminent position in the great scheme of things courtesy of Panic Attack’s authoritative four-length win in the Paddy Power (6/1), and she’s entered up at Newbury at the end of the month for the Coral Gold Cup (16/1).”

Jonbon, which went off at 5/6 favourite in the Grade 2 Shloer Chase, was beaten by L’eau Du Sud by a whopping 15 lengths on Friday.

Firth added: “Racing action came from Cheltenham, which looked lucky to get all three days on with the weather.

“Ten-time Grade 1 winner Jonbon was disappointing in the Shloer Chase having been sent off 5/6 favourite on Friday, while No Drama This End won the Grade 2 Novices’ Hurdle in taking style having been sent off 5/1 and was steady in the market throughout the day. He looks one to keep on side this season.”

Finally, in the world of boxing, Connor Benn (7/5) defeated Chris Eubank Jr in their much-hyped rematch at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.

Eubank won on points when the pair met in April, but a Benn masterclass, including putting his opponent down twice in the final round, saw him get the win.

BOYLE Sports’ Brian O’Keeffe said: “Elsewhere, it was a remarkable evening of boxing at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as 70,000 fans watched two arch-rivals battle it out again. Backers of Conor Benn would have been delighted to see him cruise to a points decision despite heading into the bout as the 11/8 outsider.”