Quick digest: England in damp squib land ahead of World Cup as Japan claim first win over Three Lions

Absentee overlord : The main man on the programme cover wasn't in action this time

Friendly International

England (0) 0

Japan (1) 1 Mitoma 23

Another unconvincing and soporific performance in their last game at Wembley before the World Cup should ensure that there will not be any runaway expectations about what England might achieve in the USA. Japan claimed a first ever win over the tame Three Lions.

It means Thomas Tuchel has overseen a first defeat to an African nation (Senegal) and now a first ever defeat to one from Asia.

The match summary: England were beautifully sliced open by Brighton's Kaoru Mitoma midway through the first half after Cole Palmer lost the ball in midfield. Mitoma's ball out to the left found the lively Keito Nakamura and his returned square pass was put away with a smart controlled finish from 12 yards.

After that, Japan's greater tenacity and appetite to close in on a famous win carried the day. They were the more fluid side in attack and fully deserved their win.

Elliot Anderson clipped the crossbar as England tried to up the tempo but the better chances fell to the visitors. Ayase Ueda followed suit with a deflected shot bouncing off the top of the woodwork and after the break, Jordan Pickford got a leg in the way of a goalbound effort from Ritsu Doan - the Japan skipper trying to force home from a tight angle when he might have picked out a team-mate. Nakamura bent another shot inches wide of a post.

The context: After the wildly experimental line up against Uruguay on Friday night, Tuchel selected a team which is more likely to feature starters in the World Cup matches that loom large. Not that there was a huge improvement on the stodgy performance of the previous friendly against the South Americans. There was a worrying lack of fluidity.

With goal machine Harry Kane injured and unavailable, Tuchel started with Phil Foden as a false nine rather than play an orthodox striker like Dom Solanke, although the Spurs man eventually got some action. Neither formula worked.

The history: Japan were making only their second visit to London - the two nations having met just three times before in friendlies. There was a 1-1 draw at the Etihad in 2004 when Michael Owen netted for the Three Lions and in 2010 in Austria, England won 2-1 thanks to two late own goals. The first meeting was in 1995, before Euro 96, Darren Andersen and David Platt (with a late penalty) scored in a 2-1 win at Wembley.

Japan have shot up to 19th in the FIFA rankings and came into this one on a run of four wins in a row, including a success over Brazil (3-2 in October) and Scotland at the weekend (1-0).

Anglo interest in the opposition: Crystal Palace may have lost Marc Guehi as a representative but Daichi Kamada was in the Japan starting line up. Then there was Mitoma, of course. The Brighton man found the net to give Japan the lead. Leeds United's Ao Tanaka came off the bench in the second half during the inevitable flurry of changes.

How did the London players do:

Cole Palmer (Chelsea) Given a second chance to press his case for the England squad and once more looked more of a threat than an out of sorts Phil Foden. But was guilty of losing the ball for the Japan goal .Came off after an hour. 

Ben White (Arsenal) More hearty boos for the defender - many fans unforgiving because of his defection from the England camp in Qatar. Got forward well in support of attacks, but one of many who did not quite take the bull by the horns.

Jarrod Bowen (West Ham) Another cameo as he came on for Palmer, but it seems unlikely he will be on the plane for the summer tournament. Came close with a shot on the turn which flashed just wide of the mark.

Dom Solanke (Spurs) Given more minutes as England searched for the goals that don't seem to come about so easily when Kane is not around.

Atmosphere: Subdued once again. Even with healthy ticket sales boosted by Easter school holidays, the noise levels were kept to a minimum. Even the infernal drumming that accompanies these games was dialled down.

Next up: England play New Zealand and Costa Rica in World Cup warm-ups in Florida once the domestic season is over. They kick-off their group games against Croatia on June 17 before taking on Ghana and Panama.

England: (4-2-3-1) Pickford - White (Livramento 59), Konsa (Maguire 83), Guehi (Burn 83), O'Reilly (Hall 59) - Mainoo (Garner 71), Anderson - Palmer (Bowen 59), Rogers, Gordon (Rashford 71) - Foden (Solanke 59)

Uruguay: (3-4-2-1) Z Suzuki - Taniguchi, Watanabe, J Ito (Y Suzuki 80) - Doan (Tanaka 72), Kamada (Sugawara 80), Sano, Nakamura (Machino 80) - H Ito (Seko 66), Mitoma (J Suzuki 72) - Ueda (Ogawa 66)

Attendance: 79,233