Japan beat limp England 1-0 in Wembley friendly

LONDON, March 31 : Japan deservedly beat a lacklustre and Harry Kane-less England 1-0 at Wembley on Tuesday in the hosts' last friendly before manager Thomas Tuchel announces his World Cup squad in May.

Kaoru Mitoma, who plays for Brighton & Hove Albion, scored in the 23rd minute to end goalkeeper Jordan Pickford's run of clean sheets for England dating back to October 2024.

It was a first win for fellow World Cup hopefuls Japan over England in four encounters and the second defeat for the world's fourth-ranked side in 12 matches under their German coach.

Captain and prolific scorer Kane was ruled out before the start after picking up an injury in training and England rang the changes from the side that drew 1-1 with Uruguay in a friendly last Friday.

Japan, who also beat Scotland 1-0 last Saturday, have now won their last five games.

BOOS AT HALFTIME AFTER LIMP ENGLAND DISPLAY

England midfielder Cole Palmer was the culprit for losing the ball to Mitoma at the halfway line, with Japan then surging forward on the counter-attack and the winger sidefooting home from Keito Nakamura's cross.

"For sure it hurts. It's always painful to lose, and to lose at home hurts a lot," said Tuchel.

"We got punished for not a lot, for one counter attack in the first half. We need these matches, we know it is a tough opponent, we had several players not available. A new formation again, we tried stuff, and we need to learn."

Elliot Anderson came close to an equaliser with a shot that bounced off the bar in the 34th but the 18th-ranked visitors could have gone 2-0 up when a deflected effort pinged the woodwork for a corner in the 42nd.

There were boos at halftime after a lame display by the England players, supposedly fighting for a place on the plane