England vs Japan LIVE: Prediction, team news and line-ups as stars face last chance to impress in pre-World Cup friendly – UK Times

During his time in charge of England, Thomas Tuchel’s side have never beaten a team ranked inside the World’s top 20.

Japan, tonight’s opponents, are 18th and will prove to be use opponents ahead of the World Cup this summer.

Junya Ito’s strike against Scotland last week was enough for Japan to record a 1-0 victory at Hampden Park and it would be a thrilling feat if the Asian side can replicate that result against England.

Japan are in fine form and will prove to be a true test for England’s capabilities. Can the Three Lions beat them tonight?

Junya Ito’s late goal gave Japan a 1-0 win over Scotland in Steve Clarke’s side’s first 2026 World Cup warm-up game.

Clarke’s players left the Barclays Hampden pitch to euphoric scenes in November after their dramatic 4-2 win over Denmark qualified them for the finals in North America but their return to the national stadium was a much more sedate event.

The England manager was also asked which players, if any, had moved closer to being selected in the squad for the World Cup due to their peformances against Uruguay.

“They all did. I have to review it, but they all did,” admitted Thomas Tuchel.

“I liked how we played. We knew it was a difficult opponent. [Uruguay head coach Marcelo] Bielsa told me months ago that he would arrive with his best team, take it very seriously, and maybe make no changes. We were very well aware of that.

“So, I think we did good. Everyone did good. We played as a team and brought the structure to life. I liked a lot of stuff today.”

“I’m absolutely okay with our performance,” reflected Thomas Tuchel when asked about England’s 1-1 draw with Uruguay las Friday.

“I liked how we brought the structure to life. We tried and we tried, and we were the better team I think overall.

“We had some big chances from set pieces. The biggest chance was with Dominic Calvert-Lewin after 60 minutes. Then we were forced into changes –we lost Noni Madueke and Phil Foden through injuries, so it was a lot.

“Then we had a lot of new players and we changed a lot of new players, so for all that, I’m very grateful for the test and very happy with the performance.

“Competition to make the squad for the World Cup this summer is high, as the England boss reiterated prior to March international camp.”

By the time the World Cup really gets going, and Thomas Tuchel’s senior players maybe have that extra bit of energy from this week off, England might well feel the benefit of this game.

It’s hard to make a substantial list of who else did, though.

England’s friendly with Japan kicks off at 7:45pm BST on Tuesday 31 March at Wembley Stadium.

Viewers in the UK can watch the game for free on ITV1, with coverage starting at 7pm BST. The friendly will also be streamed on ITVX.

For the past four months – the longest stretch of Thomas Tuchel’s reign without international football – the England manager has been in dad-holiday mode: booking flights, scoping out hotels, planning activities for his boys. It is the most complex World Cup in history, comprising 48 teams and 106 matches plotted across 16 host cities, a festival of logistics as much as football, and Tuchel seems like the sort of man who likes both.

But now his job gets interesting, and it gets personal. There are only 26 seats on England’s plane to the World Cup (this is, of course, not actually true – there are more staff than players these days. England will take more social media content creators than goalkeepers) and the heat is on to claim a coveted place.

Tuchel does, however, welcome back the core group that missed the Uruguay clash, including captain Harry Kane, which may give us a better insight into what England are working with ahead of World Cup selection.

Welcome to The Independent’s coverage of tonight’s international friendly between England and Japan.

The game is the last one that the Three Lions will play before Thomas Tuchel names his squad of this summer’s World Cup so it represents a final chance for players to impress the England boss.

Having rested the majority of his first-choice starters for Friday’s 1-1 draw with Uruguay, Tuchel can now call upon the likes of Jordan Pickford and Harry Kane to return to the line-up for a run out before the tournament begins in June.

We’ll have all the latest updates from the England camp throughout the afternoon so stick with us as we build up to kick off at 7.45pm.