Tuchel calls England 'freestyle' after narrow New Zealand win, with Croatia opener 11 days away

A training exercise in punishing heat

England's penultimate World Cup warm-up match, played in 33°C heat and 40% humidity at Raymond James Stadium, was effectively a glorified training session. Thomas Tuchel used 22 different players, fielding entirely separate XIs in each half, the first time England have done so since June 2004. Key starters Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka were rested after Arsenal's Premier League title win and Champions League final defeat to Paris St-Germain.

Kane delivers again

Harry Kane scored the only goal in first-half stoppage time, glancing a deft header from Djed Spence's left-wing cross past goalkeeper Max Crocombe. It was Kane's 79th goal in 113 caps, extending his record tally. The Bayern Munich striker has now scored 10 goals in his last 10 England appearances and 61 goals in 51 club appearances this season.

To put it in context, a lot of our players last played together in November. That's half a year ago. We had four training sessions together, then mixed the team up completely.

Tuchel's 'freestyle' criticism

Tuchel was blunt about the first-half display, saying players were out of position and the performance was 'not part of training in the last four days'. He cited a lack of width, too many long-range shots, and excessive long balls. The second half, he said, showed more positional discipline and 'bite' off the ball.

The first half we were out of positions and it was a bit too much freestyle. That slowed our game down and made it difficult for the counter-press.

Bellingham stakes his claim

Jude Bellingham was handed the captain's armband after replacing Morgan Rogers at half-time and immediately added urgency. A brilliant outside-of-the-boot pass created a chance for Anthony Gordon. Tuchel praised Bellingham's 'decisiveness and bite', noting the Real Madrid midfielder looked full of energy after returning from injury. Rogers, by contrast, appeared anxious and much of what he attempted failed to come off.

Left-wing battle and debutant

Marcus Rashford created five first-half chances and looked sharp, strengthening his case to start on the left against Croatia. Gordon, who replaced him at the break after a €80 million move from Newcastle to Barcelona, struggled to make an impact. Seventeen-year-old Liverpool winger Rio Ngumoha made his England debut in the second half.

What comes next

England face Costa Rica in Orlando on Wednesday in their final friendly before opening their World Cup campaign against Croatia in Dallas on 17 June. New Zealand, the lowest-ranked team at the tournament, had lost 4-0 to Haiti earlier in the week and remain winless in 16 matches against European opposition since May 2010.