England finish their World Cup 2026 preparations with a friendly against Costa Rica on Wednesday at 9pm (UK time).
The Three Lions won their first friendly 1-0 against New Zealand, but that was more about getting gametime as Thomas Tuchel played two different XIs across the two halves.
England predicted lineup vs Costa Rica
England (4-2-3-1): Pickford; James, Stones, Guehi, Spence; Rice, Anderson; Saka, Bellingham, Rashford; Kane.
But this game will be more about finalising team selections. England have only faced Costa Rica twice in their history. They drew 0-0 in the 2014 World Cup as England were knocked out in the group stages. Four years later, England beat Costa Rica 2-0 in preparation for the 2018 World Cup.
England team news vs Costa Rica
Tuchel should have his full squad to choose from for this friendly. Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke all missed the win over New Zealand having been given an extended rest following the Champions League final. But they have now linked up with the squad, as has Dean Henderson.
So Tuchel may opt to name a full-strength starting lineup, or as close as possible, to finalise any decisions not yet made. There are still question marks over the defence, particularly following Saturday’s teams.
Djed Spence started at left-back and played well, setting up Harry Kane for the only goal of the game. He may get the nod ahead of Nico O’Reilly for this friendly, though the Manchester City man is the favourite to start at the World Cup.
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On the right, Reece James is likely to start after a good second-half showing. But John Stones and Marc Guehi may continue as the centre-back pairing, with Ezri Konsa having to make do as the rotational option.
Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka may go straight into the team given their standing in England’s first-choice XI. It will be a battle between Elliot Anderson and Kobbie Mainoo to start alongside Rice. The former could get the nod from the off on Wednesday, with Mainoo getting time in the second half.
Marcus Rashford is likely to start on the left, ahead of Anthony Gordon. Rashford was arguably England’s best player against New Zealand and did his chances of starting no harm. Jude Bellingham may start at No.10 ahead of Morgan Rogers, with Kane leading the line.
Things for England to learn
Tuchel wasn’t overly happy with England’s performance against New Zealand. Although it was more about getting minutes into legs, there were some tactical aspects to keep an eye on. But the players didn’t hit Tuchel’s standards.
“I’m not super happy about it,” Tuchel said of the game.
“I liked the second half more than the first half. We played more from our positions and that’s why we played with more speed and off the ball we played with more bite.
“The first half we were out of position and it was a bit too much freestyle. That slowed our game down and made it difficult for the counterpress because we were not in the positions that we wanted to be when we started attacking. That’s basically the story of the match.”
He added: “We were lacking width so players were coming inside and narrowing ourselves down and slowing ourselves down and changing positions for too long. We were taking crosses, a lot of long-range shots, normally not our style of play. We played a lot of long balls, we played a lot of long passes. That was not part of training in the last four days.”
England attempted 27 crosses against New Zealand, with 17 coming in the first half. But Tuchel did also play Ollie Watkins at right-wing, and the striker would naturally move centrally to try to make an impact.
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