Things get serious now for England and Thomas Tuchel
One more warm-up match before the tournament starts
England head coach Thomas Tuchel's pre-World Cup experimentation must surely come to an end now.
Author | Liam C
Tuchel's extended assessment of the options at his disposal continued on Saturday, with two entirely different teams taking to the field across each half of a low-key friendly against New Zealand in the sweltering heat of Tampa.
The countdown is on to England's opening World Cup fixture against Croatia in Dallas on Wednesday 17 June.
With the Tampa exercise complete, Tuchel should now be ready to offer a clearer indication of the side he believes can deliver success.
It was entirely understandable that he wanted his squad to gain valuable minutes in demanding, energy-sapping conditions. It had been said in the build-up to this pre tournament friendly that utilising the full squad is going to be key.
The consequence of all this squad tinkering, however, was that the 1-0 victory, secured by another Harry Kane goal, felt more like a training exercise than a meaningful international contest.
A useful exercise for England and Thomas Tuchel despite only a narrow win. supernewsaffiliate.blogspot.com/2026/06/worl...
— Super News Affiliate (@supernews1.bsky.social) 7 June 2026 at 09:11
[image or embed]
It was the first time since June 2004, when England faced Iceland before departing for the European Championship in Portugal, that 22 different players had featured in a single match.
What's next?
England's final warm-up game before the World Cup comes against Costa Rica in Orlando on Wednesday, and that should provide Tuchel with the opportunity to unleash his strongest line-up.
His recent team selections have been some way from what would be considered a likely World Cup starting XI. In Tampa, he was without key Arsenal players and certain starters Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka, both rested following their Premier League title-winning campaign and Champions League final defeat by Paris Saint-Germain.
