KEIR RADNEDGE at WEMBLEY: England’s charge to the 2026 World Cup fell at its final domestic fork as Thomas Tuchel’s men, despite a late desperate flurry, fell 1-0 to Japan – first Asian opposition ever to beat the Three Lions.

England failed to put one shot on target in an anaemic first 45 minutes against well-drilled and energetic opponents who took an ultimately decisive 22nd-minute lead though Kauou Mitoma after Carlton Palmer lost possession fatally in midfield.

Now they have only friendlies against New Zealand and Costa Rica in the United States to get their act together weeks before the finals kick off.

Tuchel, after Friday’s disjointed 1-1 draw against Uruguay, named almost an entirely new team. Again he was without certain World Cup starters such as Harry Kane and the injured Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka who would expect to be in his preferred selection for the World Cup opener against Croatia.

The German’s squad had been hit by the departures of key personnel: John Stones, Rice and Saka had all returned to their clubs for medical assessments. Noni Madueke and Adam Wharton were both ruled out after being injured against Uruguay.

However the squad depth available, as suggested by the initial selection of a 35-man party should not have been so badly embarrassed and fallen behind so early.

A tactical shape which looked to Morgan Rogers and Phil Foden as wide-sitting forwards looked as muddled as the selection suggested but Tuchel resisted the temptation to undertake any halftime adjustment.

Indeed, England were almost caught out again five minutes into the second half when the dangerous Ritsu Doan cut in from the right and saw his angled low drive denied only by keeper Jordan Pickford’s outstretched leg.

Tuchel made his first changes just before the hour. The replacement of Foden with Dominic Solanke was an admission that the attacking experiment of a false No9 had been a failure while the arrival of Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento was an indictment of the way Nico O’Reilly and Ben White had been exposed at fullback.

Even when England were awarded a free kick on the edge of he Japanese penalty box Rogers jabbed his effort into the heart of the defensive wall.

Nakamura curled an angled effort inches wide of Pickford’s left-hand post before a water break and another throw of Tuchel’s substitutions dice with Marcus Rashford replacing Anthony Gordon in attack.

Solanke’s arrival did provide England with a welcome attacking focus and Rashford, in the 77th minute, duly produced England’s first effort on target. Keeper Zion Suzuki could not hold the shot but, fortunately for him and Japan, Jarrod Bowen hooked the loose ball wide.

The even-more-newly arrived Harry Maguire saw a first-touch effort headed off the goal-line but the deployment of the Manchester United man as an attacking weapon exposed the paucity of Englands creative ideas and spelled the end of a 21-match run in which they had scored in every game.

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