Why Harry Kane isn’t playing in England’s clash with Japan
Harry Kane will miss England’s friendly with Japan at Wembley after sustaining a minor injury on the eve of the clash.
It’s understood Kane suffered bruising during England’s final training session and the 32-year-old Bayern Munich striker has been left out of Thomas Tuchel’s 25-man matchday party as a precaution.
The issue is not believed to be overly serious but Kane has remained with the rest of the squad to receive further assessment.
Kane – England’s captain and all-time top goalscorer – also played no part in the side’s previous friendly with Uruguay. Tuchel confirmed at the time that he was keen to manage the forward’s workload during the international break.
The Three Lions have made a total of ten changes to the team that drew 1-1 with Uruguay last Friday, with Manchester City’s Phil Foden the only player to keep his place in Thomas Tuchel’s starting XI.
‘A minor injury basically out of nothing, it just happened,’ Tuchel told ITV Sport’s Gabriel Clarke when asked for an update on Kane’s condition ahead of kick-off.
‘He had to step out of training after 15 minutes, no chance to be involved, not even today.
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‘So he’s further assessed now and will be later in the stadium to watch.’
Asked whether he deemed Kane’s injury to be ‘serious’, Tuchel replied: ‘Well it’s serious enough to not be able to play.
‘We have to wait for further assessment.’
A short statement from England confirmed that veteran midfielder Jordan Henderson had returned to his club Brentford prior to this evening’s fixture in the capital.
Marc Guehi wears the captain’s armband in Kane’s absence and starts in new-look defence with Ezri Konsa, Ben White and Nico O’Reilly.
Established number one Jordan Pickford returns in goal for the hosts, coming in for James Trafford, who made his full international debut last time out against Uruguay.
In midfield, Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson and Manchester United’s Kobbie Mainoo will be looking to strengthen their respective cases for a place in Tuchel’s World Cup squad, with Cole Palmer set to play in the No.10 position.
Morgan Rogers, Anthony Gordon and Foden have been given the nod in attack, with Dominic Solanke – the only out-and-out centre-forward in Tuchel’s matchday squad – named on the bench.
Having played in the No.10 role previously, Foden is expected to play through the middle as a false nine, with Gordon likely to start on the left flank and Rogers on the right.
‘We need a good performance because we play against a good opponent so we need to be very active and very smart against the ball to get our press right,’ Tuchel said of the challenge posed by Japan.
‘Japan play relentless over the 90 minutes so they will not let us breathe.
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‘We need a complete performance to be able to win.’
After tonight’s match, England have just two more friendlies remaining against New Zealand (June 6) and Costa Rica (June 10) before attentions turn to the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The Three Lions kick off this summer’s tournament with a heavyweight Group L match versus Croatia on June 17.
Kane and Co then lock horns with Ghana on June 23 before wrapping up their group-stage campaign against Panama on June 27.
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Article source: https://metro.co.uk/2026/03/31/harry-kane-isnt-playing-englands-clash-japan-27788826/