England begin their World Cup 2026 preparations with a friendly against New Zealand on Saturday at 9pm (UK time).
This will be the first chance for fans to see what Thomas Tuchel has in store for the tournament.
England predicted lineup vs New Zealand
England (4-2-3-1): Pickford; James, Konsa, Guehi, O’Reilly; Anderson, Mainoo; Rashford, Rogers, Gordon; Kane.
The German will also be using this match to get a better look at his options, as he tries to decide England’s starting XI for their World Cup opener against Croatia on 17th June.
England have only ever faced New Zealand twice in their history, winning two friendlies in 1991.
England team news vs New Zealand
There are a few questions that need answering for England ahead of the World Cup. So we may see a lot of players used in this friendly. But there are also some extra names available for selection.
Alex Scott, Rio Ngumoha, Ethan Nwaneri, Josh King and Jason Steele have all travelled with England to the United States to help in their warmup games. Scott was also on England’s initial 55-man shortlist, so would be available to feature at the World Cup should another midfielder drop out through injury.
The Bournemouth man could be in line to feature this weekend, especially with England missing a few names. Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke will miss out, joining up late with the squad after the Champions League final.
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Dean Henderson was another late arrival, but he will be with the squad prior to the friendly. The absences of Saka and Madueke does mean England are short at right-wing. So Tuchel will have to find a solution.
Ngumoha will hope to get gametime, but Tuchel is likely to start one of Marcus Rashford or Anthony Gordon on the right as World Cup preparation. Rashford played on the right a handful of times for Barcelona in 2025-26, so may get that spot, with Gordon on the right.
Rice’s absence is likely to give Elliot Anderson and Kobbie Mainoo a chance to start alongside each other. Although Jordan Henderson presents another option. Jude Bellingham and Morgan Rogers will both get a chance to fight for the starting No.10 spot.
There is also a question of the defence. According to reports, John Stones could start at centre-back in England’s opening World Cup game, which would leave Ezri Konsa’s involvement at risk. Konsa is another option at right-back, but Reece James looks set to be first-choice there despite the Aston Villa man taking the No.2 shirt — James has his favoured No.24, worn at Chelsea.
England’s poor World Cup preparations
Teams regularly play a game or two before World Cups start to get their players acclimatised with the host country. They’ll also play a similar-level opponent to the ones they’ll face in the group stage, or a nation also at the World Cup.
England didn’t play any pre-World Cup friendlies in 2022, owing to the scheduling of the tournament. And they played both pre-World Cup 2018 friendlies in England, due to the tournament being hosted in Russia. Four years earlier, England used Miami as a base to prepare for the World Cup in Brazil, and they drew both matches — held by Ecuador and Honduras.
In 2010, a pre-tournament camp took place in Austria, with England beating Japan 2-1. In 2002, there was another poor buildup to the World Cup. England played a game in South Korea against the tournament co-hosts and then faced Cameroon in Japan, to prepare for that tournament. And, again, they drew both matches.
Obviously, pre-tournament friendlies are more about getting gametime and finalising tactics. But fans do like to see wins ahead of the World Cup.
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