England v Japan: Line-ups, stats and preview

England boss Thomas Tuchel insisted the Three Lions will be ready for the World Cup amid scrutiny of his side’s performance against Uruguay, but knows a “top performance” will be needed for them to beat Japan at Wembley on Tuesday.

Tuchel’s side laboured to a 1-1 draw with the South Americans on Friday, with an experimental team left to settle for a stalemate after Ben White’s opening goal was cancelled out by a late penalty he conceded.

While England were unconvincing, this international break has seen a pair of excellent performances from France in wins over Brazil and Colombia.

Asked about his team’s displays relative to a rival for the trophy like Les Bleus, Tuchel told a press conference: “I don’t know. You cannot compare, you saw our line up and opponent, it’s just March.

“We are happy with the way we have done our camp until now. I know it wasn’t the nicest watch, but I know we played against a well coached side and best possible line up of Uruguay.

“We got a lot of things right, in most of the phases. We need to have these kind of tests now to get to know each other better. We have time to be prepared. Do you think Brazil will not be prepared in June? I think they will. Once you arrive, you don’t think about March. We will be ready.”

The England side that faces Japan is likely to have a more familiar look, with captain Harry Kane headlining a list of players joining up with the squad after being rested against Uruguay.

But the Three Lions can ill-afford to take Japan lightly.

Indeed, Japan claimed a 1-0 win over Scotland at Hampden Park on Saturday and lost just twice in 13 matches in 2025, their only defeats coming against Australia and United States and their wins including a 3-2 triumph against Brazil.

“I like it a lot, I like the Japanese team. It’s an honour to play them,” Tuchel added.

“We have two very interesting and different opponents, different mentalities and style of play. We were excited about it.

“You see the quality, we need to be ourselves and be on our top performance to win the game.”

Kaoru Mitoma came off the bench in the win over Scotland, but is likely to play a larger role at Wembley.

And the Brighton and Hove Albion star is relishing testing himself against England. The Blue Samurai will face two European opponents in their World Cup group, with Poland or Sweden joining Japan, Netherlands and Tunisia in Group F.

“I want to see how well what we have done until now will work again against a European team,” Mitoma said.

“Even if the players change, it is important to see how much of what we have done until now we can still do.

“Some of the England players know me, so if they are wary of me, I think I can use that to my advantage.

“Brighton supporters might come too. It’s also rare to be able to play in such a great stadium as a member of the Japanese national team.”

Team news for England v Japan

England released eight players from their camp following the draw with Uruguay.

Adam Wharton and Noni Madueke left due to injuries sustained in that game, while John Stones has not recovered from a knock.

Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka were due to come into the squad after being rested, but have returned to Arsenal for assessment. Aaron Ramsdale, Fiyako Tomori and Dominic Calvert-Lewin have also gone back to their respective clubs.

Dean Henderson, Nico O’Reilly, Ezri Konsa, Marc Guehi, Dan Burn, Elliott Anderson, Morgan Rogers, Anthony Gordon and captain Kane have all come into the squad and could feature.

For Japan, Takehiro Tomiyasu has withdrawn from the squad due to injury.

Predicted line-ups for England v Japan

England: Pickford; White, Konsa, Guehi, Hall; Anderson, Mainoo; Bowen, Rogers, Gordon; Kane.

Japan: Z. Suzuki; J. Suzuki, Watanabe, Ito; Sugawara, Tanaka, Kamada, Mitoma; Doan, Maeda; Ueda.

Where to watch England v Japan: TV and online streams

England v Japan kicks off at 7:45pm UK time.

It will be broadcast on ITV 1 and available to stream via ITV X. Sky subscribers can also stream the game via Sky Go.

Stats for England v Japan

• England are unbeaten in their three games against Japan, beating them 2-1 in both June 1995 in the Umbro Cup and in a May 2010 friendly, while they shared a 1-1 draw in June 2004.
• An Asian nation has never previously beaten England in 10 attempts (D4 L6) – this is England’s first game against an Asian team since a 6-2 win over IR Iran in November 2022 at the FIFA World Cup.
• England have won just two of their last seven friendly matches (D2 L3), having won 12 consecutively between 2018 and 2023 beforehand.
• England have scored in their last 21 matches in all competitions since a 0-0 draw with Slovenia at EURO 2024. It’s their longest scoring streak since a 32-game run between 1902 and 1910.
• Japan are unbeaten in their last seven matches against European nations in all competitions (W6 D1), winning each of their last three against Germany, Turkey and Scotland. Indeed, they’ve won four in a row twice before in May 2009 and February 2013.
• England’s Harry Kane has scored 10 goals across his last 10 international appearances, while he could score 2+ goals in successive matches for the national team for the first time since November 2021 against Albania (3) and San Marino (4).  

Prediction for England v Japan

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