England vs Japan LIVE: Prediction, team news and line-ups as stars face last chance to impress in pre-World Cup friendly

England midfielder Jordan Henderson has vowed to support Ben White after the Arsenal defender was booed by fans during the friendly draw with Uruguay.

White had the rare ignominy of being booed by the Wembley crowd after putting England 1-0 up.

The 28-year-old was making his first England appearance since he walked out of the 2022 World Cup squad due to “personal reasons” and then made himself unavailable for selection for the remainder of Sir Gareth Southgate’s reign.

One of the big reasons that James Trafford is enjoying his time in the England camp is the coaching set up and learning from his fellow teammates.

“The manager’s brilliant,” he said. “He’s obviously been really successful throughout his career, and you can see why he’s been so successful. He’s doing great things with us that we’re always looking to build on.

“And Pickers [Jordan Pickford], like the other goalkeepers I’ve been with – Aaron Ramsdale, Dean Henderson and now Jason Steele —they’re brilliant. They’re great lads and obviously really talented, and they’ve all got attributes and things that I always try and learn from and take into my game to improve.”

James Trafford played in goal for England during the 1-1 draw with Uruguay in what was his first international appearance for the senior side.

Speaking after that game he revealed that it was a ‘dream’ start to his England career.

The 23 year old said: “It’s a dream come true, really. It was brilliant, a great feeling. I really enjoyed myself, and it was an extremely proud moment and proud day for me and my family and friends.

“It was brilliant getting a cap [from Tuchel after the match]. I had a lot of them from every age group until this one, and yeah, it was a brilliant moment.”

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) with this being England’s first game against an Asian team since a 6-2 win over IR Iran in November 2022 at the World Cup.

During his time in charge of England, Thomas Tuchel’s side have never beaten a team ranked inside the World’s top 20.

Japan, tonight’s opponents, are 18th and will prove to be use opponents ahead of the World Cup this summer.

Junya Ito’s strike against Scotland last week was enough for Japan to record a 1-0 victory at Hampden Park and it would be a thrilling feat if the Asian side can replicate that result against England.

Japan are in fine form and will prove to be a true test for England’s capabilities. Can the Three Lions beat them tonight?

Junya Ito’s late goal gave Japan a 1-0 win over Scotland in Steve Clarke’s side’s first 2026 World Cup warm-up game.

Clarke’s players left the Barclays Hampden pitch to euphoric scenes in November after their dramatic 4-2 win over Denmark qualified them for the finals in North America but their return to the national stadium was a much more sedate event.

The England manager was also asked which players, if any, had moved closer to being selected in the squad for the World Cup due to their peformances against Uruguay.

“They all did. I have to review it, but they all did,” admitted Thomas Tuchel.

“I liked how we played. We knew it was a difficult opponent. [Uruguay head coach Marcelo] Bielsa told me months ago that he would arrive with his best team, take it very seriously, and maybe make no changes. We were very well aware of that.

“So, I think we did good. Everyone did good. We played as a team and brought the structure to life. I liked a lot of stuff today.”

“I’m absolutely okay with our performance,” reflected Thomas Tuchel when asked about England’s 1-1 draw with Uruguay las Friday.

“I liked how we brought the structure to life. We tried and we tried, and we were the better team I think overall.

“We had some big chances from set pieces. The biggest chance was with Dominic Calvert-Lewin after 60 minutes. Then we were forced into changes –we lost Noni Madueke and Phil Foden through injuries, so it was a lot.

“Then we had a lot of new players and we changed a lot of new players, so for all that, I’m very grateful for the test and very happy with the performance.

“Competition to make the squad for the World Cup this summer is high, as the England boss reiterated prior to March international camp.”

By the time the World Cup really gets going, and Thomas Tuchel’s senior players maybe have that extra bit of energy from this week off, England might well feel the benefit of this game.

It’s hard to make a substantial list of who else did, though.

England’s friendly with Japan kicks off at 7:45pm BST on Tuesday 31 March at Wembley Stadium.

Viewers in the UK can watch the game for free on ITV1, with coverage starting at 7pm BST. The friendly will also be streamed on ITVX.