England's World Cup preparations suffered a setback with a 1-0 defeat to Japan at Wembley on Tuesday night, their first loss to an Asian team. The result left fans disgruntled, with boos echoing around the stadium just days after a lacklustre 1-1 draw with Uruguay.
Brighton winger Kaoru Mitoma scored the decisive goal in the first half, dispossessing Cole Palmer before slotting past Jordan Pickford. Japan's counter-attack proved ruthless, and despite efforts from Elliot Anderson and Ayase Ueda hitting the crossbar, England could not find an equaliser.
England were dealt a blow before kick-off as captain Harry Kane was ruled out due to injury, joining Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka on the sidelines. Jude Bellingham was also not risked from the bench. Thomas Tuchel now faces questions ahead of naming his 26-man World Cup squad in May.
Late in the game, Harry Maguire saw a header cleared off the line, and substitute Morgan Rogers blazed over from close range. Japan's Zion Suzuki made several saves to preserve the historic victory for the visitors.
