England suffer lacklustre loss to Japan in last warm-up game before World Cup squad reveal

Following an experimental team selection for the 1-1 stalemate against Uruguay on Friday, England manager Thomas Tuchel opted for a lineup closer to his preferred starting eleven in this concluding friendly prior to unveiling his FIFA World Cup squad in May.

Despite that, notable players were absent, such as skipper and leading scorer Harry Kane, sidelined by a slight training knock. Marc Guéhi took the armband for the first time, and the defender nearly opened the scoring in the 13th minute with a header and a follow-up shot both denied in rapid succession from an England set-piece corner that caused chaos in the Japanese penalty area.

Japan preferred quick transitions and struck first via a sharp counter, where Mitoma stole the ball from Cole Palmer, passed to Keito Nakamura on the flank, then dashed forward to receive the cut-back and slot home coolly.

This marked the Japanese attacker's ninth goal for his nation, and it ended Jordan Pickford's clean sheet streak for England that had lasted since October 2024.

England struggled to create chances and only tested Zion Suzuki once before the 34th minute, when the keeper stretched to divert Elliot Anderson's bending shot onto the bar. Just before the interval, Japan's Ayase Ueda nodded a deflection onto the woodwork after beating the offside line.

The visitors maintained their edge post-interval, with Ritsu Dōan catching Nico O’Reilly off-guard early in the second period, though Pickford parried the close-range attempt.

Tuchel reacted with four changes around the hour, bringing on Jarrod Bowen, Lewis Hall, Dominic Solanke, and Tino Livramento for Palmer, Ben White, Phil Foden, and O’Reilly.

Yet the switches failed to spark an instant turnaround, as Nakamura threatened again by drifting in and bending a shot narrowly beyond the upright.

Marcus Rashford came on for Anthony Gordon and forced a stop from Suzuki with a driven shot 13 minutes from the end, though Bowen missed the loose ball, while Harry Maguire's aerial effort was hooked away by Yukinari Sugawara and Morgan Rogers fired high.

All the same, England could not score for the first time since June 2024, wrapping up their pre-tournament friendlies with Tuchel's inaugural loss at Wembley as national team head.

In contrast, Japan head into their eighth straight World Cup appearance in fine fettle, sealing a sweep of home nations results after beating Scotland 1-0 last weekend.