England vs Japan Predictions

• England are unbeaten in seven, winning six.
• Japan have scored 11 goals across their last five games.
• Harry Kane scored eight goals in eight World Cup 2026 qualifiers

Last chance to impress for Three Lions

After an underwhelming display in a draw with Uruguay, England play Japan in a friendly on Tuesday in their final fixture before the deadline to confirm squads for World Cup 2026.

A few players have departed the squad from boss Thomas Tuchel’s 35-man party for this pair of friendlies.

Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka are among the eight players who will be dropping out of Thomas Tuchel’s squad ahead of Tuesday’s friendly against Japan.

Rice, Saka, Noni Madueke, Adam Wharton and John Stones have departed due to injuries, while Fikayo Tomori, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Aaron Ramsdale have also returned to their clubs.

Skipper Harry Kane, Morgan Rogers, Anthony Gordon, Elliott Anderson, Nico O’Reilly, Marc Guehi, Ezri Konsa, Dan Burn and Dean Henderson will be joining the squad after missing the 1-1 draw with Uruguay and arriving into camp on Friday.

While England were below-par against Uruguay, they were also unfortunate not to win and they should be able to sign off from this international break with a victory over Japan

The team Tuchel will start with on Tuesday is more likely to be closer to the starting XI he will field when they face Croatia in their World Cup 2026 opener, with captain and record scorer Kane back in the fold.

The Three Lions are on a seven-game unbeaten run with six wins and look backable even at a fairly short 4/7, but the better value play is backing them to win and concede.

Tuchel will want to use as many players as possible and that should open up some gaps for the Japanese to exploit. The Blue Samurai come into the game in good form themselves with just one defeat in their last 11 games. They’re also on a four-game winning streak – beating Scotland at Hampden last week – and they can at least record a consolation effort.

Kane scored eight goals in as many qualifiers and is in outrageous form for Bayern Munich, with a staggering 14 goals in his last 10 games. An anytime goal from the captain looks like a strong play here.

England’s last six wins have all come by two or more goals so a 3-1 home win seems a reasonable correct score prediction.