England 0-1 Japan

ENGLAND’S FINAL MATCH on home soil before the World Cup ended in a first-ever defeat to Asian opposition as Thomas Tuchel’s side stumbled to a somewhat concerning 1-0 loss to Japan.

There were a handful of boos from those left inside what had been a sold-out Wembley Stadium after a largely lifeless display compounded Friday’s stop-start 1-1 draw with physical Uruguay.

Tuesday’s defeat was Tuchel’s second since taking charge at the start of last year and decided by Kaoru Mitoma’s fine first-half finish at the end of a well-worked move started by the Japan star dispossessing Cole Palmer.

This was another experimental side by the German coach, who again made a swathe of substitutions throughout a friendly that provided more questions than answers, including how to score without Harry Kane.

The skipper sat out the send-off fixture having picked up a knock in training and watched England fail to register a shot on target during a drab first half in which Elliot Anderson saw an effort clip the crossbar.

The Euro 2024 runners-up bossed possession before and after the break but lacked incision, spark and fluidity despite a late push in the last game before Tuchel names his World Cup squad in eight weeks’ time.

Scotland 0-1 Ivory Coast 

A much-changed Scotland suffered another friendly defeat with the 1-0 loss to Ivory Coast offering manager Steve Clarke few solutions to their creativity problems as he prepares for the nation’s first World Cup since 1998.

This was the Scots’ eighth reverse in the last 11 non-competitive matches and after conceding an early goal they struggled to really test opponents who did not concede a goal or lose a game in qualifying for this summer’s tournament.

The team were criticised for their flat performance in Saturday’s defeat to Japan but pre-match midfielder John McGinn stressed they could not afford to take the game to better opponents as they would be picked off.

Which is exactly what happened in the 12th minute when, from a four-on-five Ivory Coast counter-attack, former Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe tapped in a shot which rebounded off a post.

But with their World Cup campaign kicking off in 74 days with a match against minnows Haiti which they need to capitalise on Clarke has to find a way of making the team more threatening.

Wales 1-1 Northern Ireland

Wales and Northern Ireland shared a 1-1 friendly draw at Cardiff City Stadium as they tried to get World Cup heartbreak out of their system.

Jamie Donley raised hopes of a first Northern Ireland victory in this fixture since Noel Brotherston’s winner at Ninian Park 46 years ago.

But Sorba Thomas secured a share of the spoils with an equaliser straight after the interval, extending Wales’ unbeaten run against their visitors to 10 games – five wins and five draws.

Uefa had insisted Thursday’s beaten play-off semi-finalists – Wales had lost to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Northern Ireland to Italy – met each other in a match ridiculed by many as a waste of time.

Unsurprisingly, there were empty seats for a fixture that had been officially declared a sell-out weeks ago.

In the event, it was a decent contest but one that inevitably lacked the edge and jeopardy of a more meaningful affair.