England’s World Cup preparations have been hit by concerns about a potentially poor pitch for Saturday’s friendly against New Zealand and unexpectedly wet weather in Florida, although manager Thomas Tuchel said he would stick to his plans.
England are using the match in Tampa, the first of two warm-up matches before their Group L opener against Croatia in Dallas on June 17, to help players acclimatise to the heat and humidity.
While persistent rain and cloudy skies have limited their planned exposure to sunshine, Tuchel said conditions had not disrupted training.
“It showed us that you can plan what you want, and that life does what it wants,” Tuchel told reporters on Friday. «It rained a lot, it was a lot of gray sky, very unusual. Today was the first day in the sun, a whole day in the sun, and that’s what we wanted. We adapt to it, we make the best of it.»
Tuchel said the team would make up for lost time, adding: «We don’t have the hours we wanted to be exposed to, but we will make up for it, I think, in the coming weeks.»
Photos of the pitch for Saturday’s friendly have raised concerns about the quality of the playing surface and the risk of injuries, with the grass resembling a patchwork quilt.
“What I’ve heard so far is that things should work out and of course we want things to work out,” Tuchel said. “I only saw a photo, which made me a little worried, but let’s decide when we get there.”
England are expected to rotate heavily, with Tuchel planning to give most of his players valuable minutes.
“The plan is to play 45-45 minutes tomorrow with two complete teams, so everyone gets the same number of minutes,” he said. ‘Then we can continue with the same training load for the next three days – at this point you have to stick to the plan.’
England play Costa Rica in a second friendly on Tuesday before the team moves to base camp in Kansas City to prepare for the tournament opener.
Published on June 6, 2026
