World Cup 2026: England & Thomas Tuchel must get serious after New Zealand game

Tuchel has to take some responsibility for this situation by making some experimental selections leading up to these final preparations, including friendlies against Uruguay and Japan at Wembley in March.

Manchester City’s Phil Foden played up front against Japan. In the Uruguay match, Tuchel fielded Foden, Everton’s James Garner and Spurs striker Dominic Solanke. None of them made the World Cup squad.

After a year in the English wilderness, Ivan Toney was substituted in the second half in Tampa after playing three minutes in a friendly against Senegal at the City Ground in Nottingham.

In fact, this makes it even more important for Tuchel to field a squad that is as close as possible to the squad that will face Croatia against Costa Rica. It will be an opportunity to catch the rhythm and momentum and create combinations before the tournament opens.

While Tuchel reported that there were no injuries in at least the first warm-up match, he added: “The better the opponent is, the better we will be.”

Kane’s goal came just before half-time, heralding mass change, but Tuchel said: “I was happier in the second half. I thought we had more hunger and more desire. We played better but couldn’t score.

“We didn’t play as planned in the first half. That slowed down the game but it was better in the second half.

“While we are here we will get used to the humidity and the sun. Tomorrow will be a recovery day, then we will have two days to prepare for Costa Rica. Then a group of players will get more minutes. Arsenal players are indoors at the moment, which is good as it gives us energy and quality and then we have another day and a half off.

“Then we’ll go to Kansas and prepare for Croatia.”