England’s final international break before Thomas Tuchel selects his World Cup squad began with a third-string side sharing a drab 1-1 draw with Uruguay. It ended with a largely second-string team suffering a dismal 1-0 defeat by Japan at Wembley. If Tuchel learnt anything from the past few days, perhaps it is that he needs his first XI more than he knew if England are to last the distance in North America this summer.
The last match before a major tournament has little material impact. This is a friendly that will soon be forgotten. But these games do affect expectations around the England side, they set the temperature, and this was a night when England’s prospects of winning the World Cup were dialled down a few degrees.
