England and Wales to play Wembley friendly

Wales and England will renew rivalries later this year with a Wembley friendly confirmed for October.

The home nations – who first faced each other 146 years ago – have arranged the fixture as part of preparation for key World Cup qualifiers.

Thomas Tuchel begins life as England boss when they kick-off their Group K campaign for the 2026 tournament against Albania next month.

While Craig Bellamy's bid to reach a major finals as Wales manager starts with a Group J home fixture against Kazakhstan in four weeks' time.

The friendly on 9 October will be preparation for the Three Lions' game in Latvia and Wales' crunch home tie with top seeds Belgium a few days later.

The two nations have met each other 104 times, first in 1879 and the most recent in the 2022 World Cup where Gareth Southgate's side eased to a 3-0 win, sending Wales home from Qatar.

England also won 3-0 in the last Wembley fixture between the sides in 2020, a game played behind closed doors during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The last crowd to see Wales take on England at Wembley came in a Euro 2012 qualifier in September 2011, Bellamy missing from Gary Speed's side through suspension.

Despite his impressive playing career, Bellamy played only a handful of games at Wembley while with Liverpool, including appearing as a substitute in the 2012 League Cup final win over hometown club Cardiff City. He also featured for Team GB against UAE during the 2012 Olympics.

Wales have only won once at Wembley, a 1977 Home Internationals success when a Leighton James penalty sealed a first win on English soil since 1936.

Wales have also confirmed a 9 September friendly fixture against Canada at the Swansea.Com Stadium.

It is the first time Wales have faced Canada since a May 2004 friendly win at Wrexham's Racecourse Ground.