England suffered a second successive unconvincing performance as Japan secured a deserved 1-0 win at Wembley, with Kaoru Mitoma scoring the only goal. The defeat, which followed a draw with Uruguay, means Thomas Tuchel has now failed to win any of his three matches against opponents ranked in the top 20 of the FIFA world rankings.
Phil Foden's experiment as a false nine failed to provide the attacking spark England needed. The Manchester City midfielder struggled to hold the ball up and saw less of it than any outfield player during his time on the pitch. He was replaced within the hour, with his performance doing little to solve the ongoing search for a back-up to the injured Harry Kane.
Dominic Solanke and Dominic Calvert-Lewin failed to impress in the previous match, leaving Tuchel with limited options. The England manager will hope that the return of Kane, Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham can raise the level, but concerns remain over the team's balance and creativity against stronger opposition.
One positive to emerge was the performance of Lewis Hall, who came off the bench and offered genuine width and pace on the left. The Newcastle defender almost equalised late on with a well-struck low effort, having previously delivered two encouraging cameos during the international break.
England now have only friendlies against New Zealand and Costa Rica before their World Cup opener against Croatia, leaving limited time to address the issues exposed in these matches.
