Harry Kane’s 67th goal in international and club matches since the start of last season gave England victory over New Zealand in an international friendly at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
Captain Kane reached 79 goals for England, 26 more than Wayne Rooney, and became the country’s all-time top scorer with a well-placed header from Jed Spence’s left-wing pass during extra time of an uneventful first half.
Dan Byrne headed home the post shortly after half-time, having been introduced as one of England’s 11 first-half substitutes.
Liverpool winger Rio Njomoha also featured at the age of 17, becoming the youngest player to make his debut for the Three Lions since Jude Bellingham, who was 155 days younger in November 2020.
Analysis of the England and New Zealand match: Tuchel “sees a bigger picture”
Concerns about the quality of the pitch awaiting England appeared to be unfounded at the AFL Stadium, with New Zealand putting up more resistance than their status as a 75th-ranked team in the world might suggest.
Millwall goalkeeper Max Crocombe converted Kane’s early strike from distance early on, while Nottingham Forest striker Chris Wood had a quiet game.
Former England left-back Stephen Warnock said coach Thomas Tuchel “doesn’t care about the result” against the opposition, who lost 4-0 to Haiti in a friendly match on Wednesday.
“The pitch wasn’t great, and that made it difficult to play the way we wanted to.” 🏟️🗣️
Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham spoke to ITV @gabrielclark05 After England’s victory over New Zealand 1-0 💪🏻 pic.twitter.com/z2YyTVJqDY
– ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 6, 2026
“It’s not the performance that many would have wanted,” Warnock told BBC Radio 5 Live. “What he wants to see is the England team improving and understanding what they are being asked to do.
“He won’t care about how fast things go, like everyone else – he’ll just think ‘as long as I prepare my team and we’ll win the first game and get out of the group’.”
“That’s all that bothers him. He sees the bigger picture.”
Harry Kane: England’s goal against New Zealand “seemed easy”
Former Republic of Ireland captain Roy Keane praised Beijing. “He’s in the best form of his life, in great form and he makes it look really easy,” Keane told ITV Football of the goal.
“There’s a lot of speed on the ball and he’s a great striker who gets into the right position, just needs to get it into the corner. How many times have we said that about Kane? He’s the man.
“It was great training for England – they had some tests, they had to do some running and there was a bit of intensity coming in. It was really good training for them.”
World Cup 2026: England and New Zealand match schedule
England will face Costa Rica in a friendly match in Orlando on Wednesday (21:00 GMT). Here’s what the first matches of the finals look like for Tuchel and New Zealand.
| a team | date | Opponents | BST kickoff | at | Pt |
| New Zealand | June 15 | Iran | 02:00 (June 16) | 21:00 | 18:00 |
| England | June 17 | Croatia | 21:00 | 16:00 | 13:00 |
England national team vs New Zealand
England made seven changes following their 1-0 home defeat to Japan on March 31, with Jordan Pickford, Mark Guehi, Kobe Maino and Morgan Rogers retaining their places.
John Stones, Jarrell Quansah, Jed Spence, Jordan Henderson, Marcus Rashford, Ollie Watkins and Harry Kane entered.
Centre-back Stones missed most of his final season at Manchester City with problems, including a calf injury that kept the 32-year-old out until mid-April.
Midfielder Declan Rice and strikers Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke were rested after featuring in Arsenal’s Champions League final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain the previous Saturday.
England summoned right-back Ben White last March and he started against Japan, but he will miss the finals due to a serious knee injury.
Coaching squad members Alex Scott, Ngomoha, Josh King, Jason Steele and Ethan Nwaneri are not eligible to play in the World Cup but were hoping to make their debut for England.
England The beginning of the eleventh: Jordan Pickford, John Stones, Mark Guehi, Jarrell Quansah, Jed Spence, Jordan Henderson, Kobe Maino, Morgan Rogers, Marcus Rashford, Ollie Watkins, Harry Kane.
England Alternatives: Dean Henderson, James Trafford, Ezri Konsa, Nico O’Reilly, Dan Byrne, Tino Livramento, Elliot Anderson, Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon, Ivan Toney, Reece James, Alex Scott, Josh King, Ethan Nwaniri, Rio Ngomoha.
2026 World Cup preparations: New Zealand’s full lineup against England
Alex Poulsen, Tyler Bindon, Alex Rover and Jesse Randall moved to the bench for the New Zealand team, which included Crocombe, Joe Bell, Michael Boxall and Matthew Garbett.
Wood, a record 45-goal goalscorer, has started his campaign again, after returning from a serious knee injury with Nottingham Forest in April, playing 60 minutes against Haiti.
Influential right-back Tim Paine missed two months of the season with a broken collarbone and has suffered two minor hamstring problems since then.
Sarpreet Singh suffered a serious knee injury last February, but was deemed fit enough to join the team, playing the first half against Haiti and starting the match here.
New Zealand starting lineup: Max Crocombe, Tim Paine, Finn Surman, Michael Boxall, Liberato Casassi, Elijah Gast, Joe Bell, Sarpreet Singh, Marko Stamenic, Matthew Garbett, Chris Wood
New Zealand Alternatives: Alex Poulsen, Francis de Vries, Tyler Bindon, Alex Rover, Nando Bignacker, Costa Barbarosse, Ben Wayne, Ben Auld, Callum McQuatt, Jesse Randall, Michael Wood, Callan Elliott, Lachlan Bayliss, Tommy Smith.
England and New Zealand match statistics
- England were in danger of going without a win in their opening three matches in a calendar year for the first time since 2004 (D2 L1)
- They have won each of the last 38 matches they have played against nations ranked 85th or lower in the rankings since a 1-0 loss in Northern Ireland in September 2005.
- It was England’s first match in the United States since friendlies against Ecuador and Honduras in June 2014 ahead of the World Cup in Brazil, with both matches drawn at Sun Life Stadium in Miami.
- The only previous clashes between the Three Lions and New Zealand came in the same week in June 1991, winning 1-0 in Auckland and 2-0 in Wellington.
- Ken – He scored 11 goals in his last 11 matches for England and 10 in 10 matches against non-European countries.
- This defeat is New Zealand’s ninth in its last 11 matches in all competitions (W1 D1).
- The All Whites took 14 shots to 13 against Haiti, although they posted an expected goals total of 1.0 to their opponents’ 2.4.
- Chris Wood scored nine goals for New Zealand in the match 2026 World Cup qualifierswhich is five more than any other OFC player
- Forest’s top scorer in the 2024/25 season has headed more goals (6) than any other player during the Etihad season overall.
- New Zealand are winless in their last 17 matches against European teams (D4 L13), since a 1-0 friendly win over Serbia in Klagenfurt in May 2010.
