Kane saves England from embarrassment against Andorra in World Cup qualifying

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — England needed a second-half goal from Harry Kane to secure a 1-0 win over lowly Andorra and maintain a perfect record under Thomas Tuchel after three World Cup qualifiers on Saturday.

England was held scoreless by a team ranked 173rd in the world until Kane redirected a pass from Noni Madueke into the top of the net in the 50th minute after the Bayern Munich striker’s initial effort was saved by goalkeeper Iker Álvarez.

“We need to be better for sure,” Kane said. “It’s not one that many will remember, and we had good spells, but we take the three points and move on.”

It was goal No. 72 in his 106th appearance for the Three Lions.

Tuchel’s side remained top of Europe’s Group K with nine points after wins against Albania and Latvia. They have yet to concede a goal under the German coach.

Andorra remained winless but managed to frustrate England's stars for most of the game with its five-man defensive line. Ezri Konsa had to block a late shot by Andorra’s Guillaume Lopez to prevent the chance of an equalizer.

“We kept giving it away and that gave them a bit of confidence and energy,” Kane said. "At 1-0 with five to 10 minutes to go you have to be careful.”

England dominated possession and Eberechi Eze went close to a second goal when he forced Álvarez to tip his header of the bar as the visitors couldn't extend the lead.

England had won its previous six meetings with Andorra by a combined score of 25-0.

The game was played at Espanyol’s stadium in Barcelona, nearly three hours south of the Pyrenees principality — which has a population of around 80,000 — due to concerns that work on Andorra’s home stadium wouldn’t be finished in time.

Only the group winners qualify directly for next year’s tournament in North America. The second-placed teams go into a playoffs.

Europe will have 16 teams in the expanded 48-team field for the World Cup. The group stage of European qualifying runs through November.

England will next host Senegal in a friendly on Tuesday.

Veteran Dzeko scores for Bosnia

A goal from 39-year-old Edin Dzeko gave Bosnia and Herzegovina a 1-0 win over San Marino.

The Balkan republic leads Group H with three wins, while San Marino is bottom with zero points.

Lithuania was held 0-0 at Malta in Group G.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer