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England v Japan BBC Radio 5 Live This video can not be played England v Japan BBC Radio 5 Live Use the 'Listen live' icon at the top of the page for BBC Radio 5 Live build up followed by match commentary Kick-off is at 19: 45 BST Kane rested from England squad as Three Lions start without recognised striker England play last match before World Cup squad is announced in May Get Involved: Comment on this page, via Whats App on 03301231826 or text 81111 (UK only, standard message rates apply) Neil Johnston England 0-0 Japan Paul Robinson Former England goalkeeper on BBC Radio 5 Live at Wembley There's a rough structure to that front four. It's going to take a lot of work on the training ground because even in these early stages we've seen players intruding in other positions. Click 'Get Involved' on this page to have your say England barely able to get out of their own half, and lots of runs with no ball delivered. If only we had, say, a world class right back with incredible passing range to help out here. .. Bob, Bristol England 0-0 Japan Tsuyoshi Watanabe's late challenge on Phil Foden earns England a free-kick in a decent position and Cole Palmer whips the set-piece into the danger area. It's just about cleared before England win their first corner of the game. Much better by the Three Lions. England 0-0 Japan Lee Dixon Former England and Arsenal defender on ITV England just need to sharpen up. It's a good run from Rogers but Palmer just delays the pass, and then he over-hits it. England 0-0 Japan The noise levels rise as Cole Palmer darts forward but he over-hits his pass for Morgan Rogers and the ball rolls out for a goal kick. England 0-0 Japan Alex Howell BBC Sport reporter at Wembley It's been a slow start from England and Thomas Tuchel was particularly unhappy with how deep the defence was to deal with a long goal-kick from Zion Suzuki. Tuchel turned around and opened his arms wide to the bench. England 0-0 Japan This is the eighth consecutive game in which no Liverpool players will feature for England - the longest run since between September 1984 and May 1987 (34 matches). Click 'Get Involved' on this page to have your say This is already a better game than the Uruguay one. Matt, Salisbury England 0-0 Japan When was the last time England came flying out of the traps straight from the off? England 0-0 Japan Paul Robinson Former England goalkeeper on BBC Radio 5 Live at Wembley That was a bad pass from Marc Guehi to Jordan Pickford that his goalkeeper really didn't want. It's been a good start from Japan. They've been on the front foot and really pressed England. England 0-0 Japan Lee Dixon Former England and Arsenal defender on ITV It's sloppy from England. Miscommunication between O'Reilly and Gordon on this left hand side, and then sloppy play at the back from Guehi at the back as well, he nearly caught Pickford out. At the moment England are not finding their targets. England 0-0 Japan Another slow start by England. A misunderstanding between Marc Guehi and Jordan Pickford almost allows Junya Ito in. Click 'Get Involved' on this page to have your say I think we all know Pickford is Tuchel’s starting keeper for the tournament so why isn't Henderson or Trafford in goal tonight? What’s the point of friendlies just before a tournament if not to test and analyse? Jay England 0-0 Japan Plenty of early possession for England but Japan are not allowing their opponents any time to settle. The first glimpse of danger comes from the visitors but a cross into the England box ends up flying out of play. England 0-0 Japan Paul Robinson Former England goalkeeper on BBC Radio 5 Live at Wembley You look at Japan's recent results, they're a team that are really well organised and well coached. This is going to be a tough test for England. Click 'Get Involved' on this page to have your say Excited to see how this front 4 will work. They've all played in this type of system at age grade levels so I hope it will be free-flowing and interchangeable. Chris, Wales England 0-0 Japan England's final match on home soil before the World Cup is under way. England v Japan (19: 45 BST) We're about to find out, Dan. Click 'Get Involved' on this page to have your say Surely tonight's performance can't be anymore boring than Friday. Dan, Stratford England v Japan (19: 45 BST) England England manager Thomas Tuchel, speaking to ITV: "We need a good performance because we play against a good opponent. We need to be very active and very smart against the ball to get our press right. "Japan play relentlessly. They just do their thing over 90 minutes and they will not let us breathe. We need a complete performance to be able to win. " On Kane's absence: "A minor injury from basically 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. He is being further assessed now and will be in the stadium to watch. It is serious enough to not be able to play. We have to wait for further assessment. " Manager: Thomas Tuchel Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Manager: Hajime Moriyasu Formation: 3 - 4 - 2 - 1 Manager: Thomas Tuchel Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Manager: Hajime Moriyasu Formation: 3 - 4 - 2 - 1 To watch and listen, you need to enable Java Script in your browser. England v Japan. BBC Radio 5 Live. Audio England v Japan BBC Radio 5 Live Listen live Pre-match: England v Japan. BBC Radio 5 Live. Audio Pre-match: England v Japan BBC Radio 5 Live Friendlies All competitions All competitions All competitions England are unbeaten in their three games against Japan, beating them 2-1 in both June 1995 in the Umbro Cup and in a May 2010 friendly, while they shared a 1-1 draw in June 2004. An Asian nation has never previously beaten England in 10 attempts (D4 L6) – this is England’s first game against an Asian team since a 6-2 win over IR Iran in November 2022 at the FIFA World Cup. England have won just two of their last seven friendly matches (D2 L3), having won 12 consecutively between 2018 and 2023 beforehand. England have scored in their last 21 matches in all competitions since a 0-0 draw with Slovenia at EURO 2024. It’s their longest scoring streak since a 32-game run between 1902 and 1910. Japan are unbeaten in in their last seven matches against European nations in all competitions (W6 D1), winning each of their last three against Germany, Türkiye and Scotland. Indeed, they’ve won four in a row twice before in May 2009 and February 2013. 10 of England’s last 18 goals have come via set piece situations (5x corner, 3x free-kick, 2x penalty), with 40% of those being scored or assisted by Arsenal players. England’s Harry Kane has scored 10 goals across his last 10 international appearances, while he could score 2+ goals in successive matches for the national team for the first time since November 2021 against Albania (3) and San Marino (4).   Japan’s Junya Ito has four goal involvements across his last three matches (1 goal, 3 assists) and could score in successive matches for the national team for the first time since September 2023 (run of three). Copyright © 2026 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.