England suffered a 1-0 defeat to Japan in a friendly at Wembley, with Kaoru Mitoma scoring the decisive goal, while Harry Kane missed the match due to injury. In another friendly, England drew 1-1 with Uruguay, with Ben White scoring for England, but the match was marred by incidents including Manuel Ugarte receiving two yellow cards without being sent off and Ronald Araujo making a heavy tackle on Phil Foden that some sources argue deserved a red card. Manager Thomas Tuchel, who called up 35 players for the Uruguay match, a decision some sources criticize, is overseeing a squad that includes Marcelo Bielsa as the Uruguay manager.
Injuries to Eberechi Eze and Jarell Quansah have provided opportunities for Harvey Barnes and Ben White to impress. England qualified for the 2026 World Cup with a perfect eight-win campaign, breezing through qualifying by winning all games without conceding a goal, a feat only achieved once before in 1990. Historically, England have won their first match in 11 of the last 13 calendar years, with one defeat at Wembley against Brazil.
Harry Kane's form has been a bright spot, with nine goals in the first nine games under Tuchel's guidance and 48 goals and five assists for Bayern Munich in all competitions during the 2025/26 campaign, making him the English player with the most goal contributions in Europe's top five leagues this season. England's matches against Uruguay and Japan are part of the 2026 Send Off Series, with the team scheduled to play Uruguay and Japan in a March double-header at Wembley Stadium in 2026, specifically with England vs Japan set for Tuesday 31 March 2026 at 7:45pm. These are the only games to be played in England before the World Cup.
We are really pleased to have these two fixtures confirmed as our World Cup year takes shape. We wanted to play two teams ranked in the top 20 in the world, but also to test ourselves against opponents from outside of Europe. After Friday’s draw, the excitement for next year is really building.
Historically, England have won three of the eleven fixtures against Uruguay, with two of the last four games at Wembley ending in goalless draws in 1995 and 1966, and Uruguay's last match against England in England was a 2-1 win for England at Anfield in March 2006. England have a poor record against South American teams, with only three wins in the last 11 games, drawing five and losing four, aside from wins over Brazil in 2013 and Peru in 2014, and against nations faced at least 10 times, England only have a worse record against Brazil and Romania. Against Japan, England have met on three occasions, with a 2-1 win at Wembley in June 1995, a 1-1 draw in Manchester in June 2004, and a 2-1 win in Graz in May 2010, the latter featuring two own goals from Japan.
Uruguay's situation under Marcelo Bielsa, who returns to Wembley for the first time in 26 years, adds intrigue, as they aim to avoid back-to-back defeats for the first time since November 2021. England are expected to play two warm-up games in the USA before the World Cup, with details yet to be confirmed, as part of their final tuning ahead of the group stage matches against Croatia, Ghana, and Panama in Dallas, Boston, and New York/New Jersey. Player performances in the friendlies have varied, with Noni Madueke forced off with an injury against Uruguay and Marcus Rashford performing well, according to multiple reports.
The England vs. Uruguay match was criticized as being of very low quality by some sources. England debuted new Nike kits against Uruguay, while VAR was used controversially in that match.
50 for children under 16. Concessions for OAPs, students, and under-16s receive a £10 discount elsewhere in the stadium, while a limited number of Level Two tickets priced at £95 and £120 will be available, and for the home end only, a special price of £25 for England Supporters is offered.