Rashford shines but England's narrow win over New Zealand leaves Tuchel with more questions than answers

England beat New Zealand 1-0 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with Harry Kane’s goal the sole moment of genuine quality in a laboured friendly that did little to sharpen Thomas Tuchel’s thinking ahead of the World Cup.

Kane’s strike was his 79th for England, moving him into outright 10th place on the all-time international scoring list — level with Neymar — after a season in which he netted 61 times for Bayern Munich. The assist came from Djed Spence, whose delivery from the right was one of the more technically accomplished contributions of his England career. Yet the Tottenham defender remains unlikely to start against Croatia in Dallas.

The most encouraging individual display came from Marcus Rashford, who was livelier than most in a first half that otherwise struggled for rhythm. A sharp run down the left created a chance for Kane, and Rashford twice tested the goalkeeper in quick succession, even if neither effort was on target. It was not spectacular, but it was enough to suggest he may be edging ahead of Anthony Gordon in Tuchel’s thinking for the left-wing berth.

Rashford had arrived in Florida early, training privately at Inter Miami to build his fitness after a difficult club season. He missed Euro 2024 entirely — not even making the final cut — and with Barcelona ultimately opting to sign Gordon rather than him, he carries extra motivation to force his way into the starting eleven. Gordon played the second half, his first appearance in almost two months, but lacked the sharpness that defines his game. A second friendly against Costa Rica on Wednesday could give him the chance to respond.

Tuchel made 11 changes at half-time, which complicated any attempt to draw firm conclusions. Among the more puzzling decisions was deploying Nico O’Reilly — arguably England’s best natural left-back — in midfield during the second period, with Spence and then Tino Livramento filling the defensive role instead. If O’Reilly is intended to start at left-back against Croatia, the logic of that arrangement was hard to follow.

Rio Ngumoha earned his first senior cap, becoming one of 22 players to feature across the 90 minutes. At 17, the winger is not expected to be part of the World Cup squad barring injuries elsewhere. Beyond Rashford’s relative brightness and Kane’s reliable finishing, few players made a compelling case for inclusion in Tuchel’s preferred starting eleven — which, with the tournament now weeks away, is precisely the problem.