England vs Japan; International Match
England vs Japan. International Match.
Wembley StadiumAttendance79,233.
England 0-1 Japan: Kaoru Mitoma nets deserved winner as experimental Three Lions fail to fire again
Report as Kaoru Mitoma condemns England to deserved 1-0 defeat at Wembley in final home friendly before World Cup; Thomas Tuchel's squad hopefuls fail to impress with Phil Foden, Ben White and Cole Palmer all struggling against world's 18th-ranked side
Tuesday 31 March 2026 22:23, UK
England's World Cup hopefuls did little to convince Thomas Tuchel of their worth when he names his squad in barely two months' time as another experimental line-up was booed off following a 1-0 defeat to Japan at Wembley.
By the time the Three Lions next take the field against New Zealand on June 6, Tuchel will have already announced his initial squad. A second performance lacking rhythm both as a unit and individually inside four days offered little optimism of the quality outside of his first XI.
A first ever loss to Japan in a friendly does not mean much on its own but the Three Lions' performance certainly returned more questions than answers, with the home fans who remained at Wembley to boo their side off left frustrated by a missed opportunity to build momentum and optimism ahead of the World Cup.
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The Three Lions managed just three shots on target across the entire match while looking susceptible defensively throughout. Kaoru Mitoma's 23rd-minute winner was Japan's first chance of the match after an early spell of England dominance, but as the hosts toiled in front of goal the visitors grew in confidence and missed several chances to extend their lead on the break.
Though Tuchel's experimental line-up can go some way to explaining England's lack of cohesion as a whole, few beyond Elliot Anderson impressed individually either and, ironically, those with the most to prove to their manager were among the ones who showed him the least.
Ben White, a surprise late call-up to this squad, was caught out of position by Keito Nakamura to feed Mitoma for the winner while Phil Foden, who Tuchel had previously talked up as an option as a False 9, was wholly ineffective in the makeshift role and had the fewest touches of any England starter before he was withdrawn on the hour.
Foden has rarely performed on the international stage but the same cannot be said of Cole Palmer, though his Chelsea form carried over into an England shirt as he gave the ball away poorly in the build-up to Mitoma's goal and created fewer chances than Jarrod Bowen, the man who replaced him for the final 30 minutes.
Substitute Lewis Hall went closest to giving the 80,000-strong home support something to cheer about in the final minutes with a well-struck near-post effort, but it says plenty about the lack of England bright points that Zion Suzuki's comfortable low save was still one of few moments of encouragement for the lacklustre hosts, who cannot be surprised by the loud jeers from the stands as they left the pitch.
Guehi: England 'need to be realistic' from March friendlies
England defender Marc Guehi speaking to ITV:
"It's obviously disappointing but we have to be realistic. This is why we play these games towards this time in the season, we need these tests as a team.
"If we have the right perspective then these games help us to build, to be better, to improve, and to go into the next stage, which is the World Cup, and to be ready."
What next for England?
England next move onto a pair of World Cup warm-up matches with New Zealand and Costa Rica in the USA on June 6 and 12 before their tournament opener against Croatia on June 17 in Texas.
