Eighteen - year - old Myles Lewis - Skelly, an England debutant, kick - started new coach Thomas Tuchel's tenure. On Friday, in the World Cup qualifying Group K opener, he scored the first goal as England beat Albania 2 - 0 at home.

The Arsenal left back, along with Newcastle United's Dan Burn, received his first international cap in Tuchel's first game in charge. He calmly scored in the 20th minute at the crowded Wembley Stadium.

However, England's performance was far from smooth, giving Tuchel plenty to think about. It wasn't until the 77th minute that England secured the victory. Captain Harry Kane's accurate strike ensured that the team began their journey to the next year's finals with a win.

Burn came close to making it a dream night for the debutants in the first half when he headed against the crossbar.

Tuchel's England team are back in action at Wembley on Monday when they host Latvia in their second qualifier while Albania host group outsiders Andorra.

Lewis-Skelly only made his first Premier League start in December but his rapid progress caught the eye of Tuchel and he was given his chance as England set off on their latest quest to win their first trophy since 1966.

It took him only 20 minutes to repay the faith as Jude Bellingham turned on the edge of the area and slid a pass through for Lewis-Skelly to shoot low past Thomas Strakosha.

He became the youngest player to score on his senior England debut, taking the record away from Marcus Rashford who was also 18 when he scored against Australia in 2016.

Tuchel sprang something of a surprise by recalling Rashford to the squad and then giving him his first England appearance for a year but he was a largely peripheral figure.

England racked up 437 passes in the first half -- the most recorded by data analysts Opta in any first half of any match -- although the vast majority of them were in front of a deeply-packed Albania defence.

Burn, who five days earlier at Wembley scored Newcastle's opening goal in their historic League Cup final win over Liverpool, had virtually nothing to do in the first half.

However, his heart was momentarily in his mouth as from a rare Albania attack, his clearing header spun the ball up into the air and landed on the top of the crossbar.

He then almost emulated Lewis-Skelly when he headed a Declan Rice corner against the woodwork while Kane was denied an almost certain goal with a superb block by Albania's Berat Djimsiti.

Albania asked more questions of England's defence after the break and their thousands of fans raised the decibel levels as they made some dangerous incursions forward.

But Kane eased any jitters with a superb guided finish after taking the ball out of the air, his 70th England goal.