England and New Zealand have confirmed their starting teams for their meeting in an international friendly in Tampa on Saturday.
The encounter with the team ranked 75th in the world is the Three Lions’ first fixture since their arrival in the US for the finals, starting their campaign against Croatia on June 17 (21:00 BST).
New Zealand, who cruised through qualifying, face Iran in their first group match on June 16 (02:00) and were beaten 4-0 by Haiti in a friendly on Wednesday.
101GreatGoals.com has the team news and starting line-ups as England and New Zealand’s preparations continue for the 2026 World Cup.
A quick tour of tonight’s venue – the home of the @Buccaneers! 🏴☠️
Shot on Google Pixel 🤳 pic.twitter.com/5jAehRsfGc
— England (@England) June 6, 2026
Table of Contents
England confirmed team vs New Zealand
Centre-back John Stones starts for England, having missed much of his final season at Manchester City with issues, including a calf injury that kept the 32-year-old out until mid-April.
Midfielder Declan Rice and forwards Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke are rested after taking part in Arsenal’s Champions League final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain last Saturday.
Right-back Ben White was recalled by England in March but will miss the finals with a serious knee injury.
Training squad members Alex Scott, Rio Ngumoha, Josh King, Jason Steele and Ethan Nwaneri are not eligible to play at the World Cup but could make their England debuts.
England starting XI: Jordan Pickford, John Stones, Marc Guehi, Jarell Quansah, Djed Spence, Jordan Henderson, Kobbie Mainoo, Morgan Rogers, Marcus Rashford, Ollie Watkins, Harry Kane
England substitutes: Dean Henderson, James Trafford, Ezri Konsa, Nico O’Reilly, Dan Burn, Tino Livramento, Elliot Anderson, Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon, Ivan Toney, Reece James, Alex Scott, Josh King, Ethan Nwaneri, Rio Ngumoha
World Cup 2026 warm-up: New Zealand full line up vs England
Record 45-goal New Zealand scorer Chris Wood returned from a severe knee injury for Nottingham Forest in April and played for 60 minutes against Haiti.
Influential right-back Tim Payne missed two months of the season with a broken collarbone and has had two minor hamstring issues since then.
Sarpreet Singh suffered a significant knee injury in February but has been deemed fit enough to join the squad, playing the first half against Haiti.
New Zealand starting XI: To follow
New Zealand substitutes: To follow
Where to watch England v New Zealand: TV channel, live online streams
Kick-off on Saturday is at 21:00 BST (16:00 ET / 13:00 PT). Live coverage in the UK is on ITV1 and STV.
Fans can stream the action via ITV’s website and the ITVX app, which is available on a vast variety of devices for viewing on the go.
England v New Zealand stats
- England have failed to win their last two fixtures (D1 L1), last going winless in their opening three fixtures of a calendar year in 2004 (D2 L1)
- They have won each of their last 37 games against nations ranked 85th or lower in the rankings since a 1-0 loss in Northern Ireland in September 2005
- This will be England’s first game in the US since friendlies against Ecuador and Honduras in June 2014 before the World Cup in Brazil, drawing both fixtures at Miami’s Sun Life Stadium
- The Three Lions’ only previous meetings with New Zealand came in the same week back in June 1991, winning 1-0 in Auckland and 2-0 in Wellington
- Harry Kane has 10 goals across his last 10 appearances for England and has nine nine appearances against non-European nations
- Defeat to Haiti was New Zealand’s eighth in their last 10 games in all competitions (W1 D1)
- The All Whites had 14 shots to 13 in that match, though they posted an expected goals total of 1.0 to their opponents’ 2.4
- Chris Wood scored nine goals for New Zealand in 2026 World Cup qualification, which is five more than any other player in the OFC confederation
- Forest’s 2024/25 leading marksman scored more goals with his head (6) than any other player managed during the confederation campaign overall
- New Zealand are winless in each of their last 16 matches against European opposition (D4 L12), since a 1-0 friendly victory over Serbia in Klagenfurt in May 2010
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: 101greatgoals.com
