It was a lacklustre night to forget at Wembley as England fell to a 1-0 loss to Japan on Friday evening. Thomas Tuchel's injury-plagued Three Lions struggled to match the tempo of their Asian opponents, who looked far brighter and sharper in the capital as alarm bells start to ring for this summer's World Cup in North America.

Kaoru Mitoma gave Japan the lead around a quarter of the way through the match, pickpocketing Cole Palmer in his own half before bursting forward with pace. The Brighton star then shifted the ball out wide to Keito Nakamura before receiving it once more in the England box, slotting it past Jordan Pickford first time - the Everton goalkeeper conceding his first international goal since October 2024.

Elliot Anderson looked to respond moments later, inches away from equalising as he cracked the bar from the edge of the area with an audacious effort. However, in line with the story of the first-half, Japan almost made it 2-0 before the break when Ayase Ueda cracked the Three Lions' backline before rattling Pickford's bar.

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Having made no changes at the break, Tuchel took just 10 minutes in the second period of play to have a reshuffle, deploying Dominic Solanke, Jarrod Bowen, Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento, as replacements for Palmer, Phil Foden, Nico O'Reilly and Ben White.

Marcus Rashford then graced the field in place of Anthony Gordon with around 20 minutes left to play, while James Garner entered the fold as a substitute for Kobbie Mainoo. Rashford registered England's first shot of the match on target around five minutes later, before Bowen squandered the chance to bury the ball from close range on the follow up - albeit with his back to goal.

Dan Burn and Harry Maguire also came on for the last 10 minutes, taking the places of Marc Guehi and Ezri Konsa - giving the Three Lions some much needed height for set pieces. Maguire took just seconds to direct a header goalward off the back of a corner, with Yukinari Sugawara clearing off the line to prevent a certain goal.

England ultimately suffered a 1-0 loss at full time, despite their best efforts, as their potential at this summer's tournament is thrown into question. Here's five things we learned from England's friendly with Japan on Tuesday evening...

Kane gives Thomas Tuchel World Cup headache

The Bayern Munich striker failed to play a part in England's friendly with Japan, as a result of an injury picked up during training. Instead, Phil Foden was deployed as a false-nine in his place.

Speaking about the issue ahead of kick-off, Tuchel explained: "Minor injury out of nothing. It just happened. He had to step out of training yesterday after 15 minutes. No chance to be involved, not even today. So he’ll be further assessed now and will be at the stadium to watch."

When asked if the issue is serious, the head coach replied: "It’s serious enough to not be able to play (tonight), so we have to wait for further assessment. Foden plays on the nine.

"They play a back three so it’s not a bad thing to drop a little back and ask the question to the back three - who steps out and who doesn’t? I encourage Phil to try stuff, to be creative and adventurous."

England looked utterly lost without their star striker.

Injuries take toll

Despite selecting an initial 35-man squad for the pair of friendlies with Uruguay and Japan, Tuchel was reduced to just 25 for the latter through a wealth of injury issues. On top of Kane's omission from the matchday squad to face Japan, Jordan Henderson returned to Brentford prematurely for an undisclosed reason.

Following Friday's 1-1 draw with Uruguay, meanwhile, Tuchel saw his camp deteriorate substantially. Aaron Ramsdale, Fikayo Tomori, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and John Stones all dropped out of the squad in the aftermath.

Adam Wharton, Noni Madueke, Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka also returned to their respective clubs. On top of looking to be lacking an out and out striker, England looked incredibly thin in the centre of the park, unable to take control for large portions.

A lack of experience at the back was also notable, Japan enjoying the better share of the chances in the first-half through somewhat lethargic defending and poor choices - something that having Stones available and starting Maguire could have rectified.

Foden not a suitable back-up for Kane at World Cup

While Tuchel had Solanke on his bench, as well as Marcus Rashford - who has previously proven he can operate through the middle - the head coach instead opted to utilise Foden as a false-nine against Japan. The endeavour ultimately bore no fruit, as the Manchester City star struggled to break the Japanese backline and was forced to drop deeper to pick the ball up instead.

Should Tuchel lose faith in Solanke, it spells major trouble for the Three Lions at this summer's World Cup in the event that Kane picks up an injury given his lack of an impact over the course of almost 60 minutes. It also begs the question as to whether Tuchel was wrong to not include Danny Welbeck in his camp, considering the form that the Brighton star has been in overshadows that of Solanke this season.

Kane, Saka and Rice instrumental to success this summer

If Tuesday's clash with Japan proves anything, it's that England may have an over-reliance on Kane, Saka and Rice this summer. The difference in not having three of the nation's finest talents for the clash at Wembley was night and day, with the Three Lions looking inexperienced, lacklustre and unstable for the majority of the match - especially against opponents that on paper, they should have had no issues with.

Even in terms of the nitty gritty, corners from Gordon and Palmer weren't up to par when compared to balls usually delivered by Saka and Rice, with Zion Suzuki able to claim a number of usually threatening set pieces with ease.

On top of the aerial threat that Kane provides on said set pieces, England were also seriously lacking a focal point to play the ball into for the duration of the encounter, Foden simply not strong enough to hold the ball up and his pace and ball control proving not enough against a side who lack any serious physicality.

Maguire bounced back from Manchester United red card

Heading into the international break on the back of a red card at club level for dragging Evanilson to ground and conceding a penalty in United's 2-2 draw with Bournemouth, Maguire was able to bounce straight back from hardship.

The centre-half may have only enjoyed around 10 minutes of football during England's game with Japan, but made an instant impact in terms of defensive prowess and aerial threat on set pieces.

The 33-year-old connected with three corners after emerging from the bench, one of those efforts forcing a goal-line clearance from Sugawara.

England massively missed any form of physicality throughout the game up until the likes of Maguire and Burn entered the fray, and the difference they made in the latter stages of the contest provides food for thought as to how the match would have played out with their presence for the duration, especially Maguire.

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