Anthony Gordon’s Humble Gesture Goes Viral After His Outstanding Display against Czechia
England enjoyed a first win of the 2026–27 UEFA Nations League on Tuesday, walking away with a 2–0 result in Prague against a Czechia team that played most of the match with a player disadvantage.
Czechia made the first chance of the game when Pavel Šulc capitalized on Elliot Anderson failing to clear, bringing an early save out of James Trafford after five minutes.
England had most of the ball, with the Czech hosts sitting deeper than Spain had done, but struggled to create opportunities in those opening stages. That began to change when Morgan Rogers struck the post 15 minutes in, with two rebounds blocked. Midway through the first half, Anthony Gordon threatened but missed the target. He went closer a few minutes later, but ex-Manchester United goalkeeper Matěj Kovář was there to deny the Barcelona winger.
In between those two Gordon chances, Czechia lost the dangerous Šulc to a red card. His reckless, mid-calf tackle on Anderson was initially punished with a yellow card, but a VAR intervention and a second look from the referee resulted in an ejection instead.
Kovář saved a shot from Harry Kane in first-half stoppage time but couldn’t stop Gordon’s headed opener a couple of minutes after the restart. The in-form forward stooped low to meet a bouncing cross and directed the ball into the net.
England struck the woodwork again when Ladislav Krejcí deflected a Lewis Hall cross onto the post, with the lead eventually doubled by Harry Kane in the 69th minute. The Bayern Munich star reacted quickest to a loose ball and fired in with his left foot from eight yards out.
Rogers, Eberechi Eze and Jude Bellingham could all have extended England’s lead late on.
One Thing We Can’t Ignore
Trent Alexander-Arnold proved himself. | Michael Regan/The FA/Getty Images
Thomas Tuchel didn’t want Trent Alexander-Arnold at the World Cup during the summer. “The amount of players in a certain position,” was the manager’s reasoning for excluding the Real Madrid defender, despite injury-prone Reece James being the only actual right back named.
That snub was coming, though. Alexander-Arnold had struggled with injuries in the early months of last season and was tellingly left out of the squad Tuchel named for crucial March friendlies.
He was given a reprieve for this camp—as a right back despite playing in midfield for Real Madrid in the Champions League—and was told “it is now time to fight for his place.”
Alexander-Arnold hadn’t played for England since June 2025, while it was almost two years since his last start—against Finland in October 2024.
All of that time out of the team feels a waste. He’s still probably the best right back England have and what difference could his ability have made at the World Cup?
It was a cross of the highest quality that made England’s opening goal for Gordon, delivering the ball into an area where Czechia could not defend it.
Tuchel wanted Alexander-Arnold to “perform” to justify his place in the team, and it was a sprint to retrieve a loose ball ahead of Czech defender Krejcí.
