Revealed: The two World Cup rivals England will face of their closing friendlies in March earlier than match kicks off subsequent summer time
Thomas Tuchel has been given World Cup pedigree opposition for England’s final two friendlies before heading to North America in the summer.
Uruguay and Japan will travel to Wembley over the March international break to face the Three Lions at Wembley.
Both nations are inside the top 20 of FIFA’s world rankings and ought to provide proper competitiveness across the last camp before Tuchel names his squad in May.
England are set to play two other warm-up friendlies once in America ahead of the tournament in a bid to acclimatise with the heat.
Miami has been earmarked as a destination for the pre-tournament camp but is yet to be confirmed following last week’s draw, which pits England against Croatia, Ghana and Panama.
Harry Kane will lead England in two final friendlies against Uruguay and Japan in March
The games represent the final time boss Thomas Tuchel will see his charges in competitive action for the Three Lions
Brighton winger Kaoru Mitoma is one of Japan’s key men
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Tottenham midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur is likely to be part of the Uruguay squad that face England
‘We are really pleased to have these two fixtures confirmed as our World Cup year takes shape,’ Tuchel said.
‘We wanted to play two teams ranked in the top 20 in the world, but also to test ourselves against opponents from outside of Europe. After Friday’s draw, the excitement for next year is really building.’
Tuchel has the majority of his travelling party set in stone but can use the March games to offer final chances for some of the fringe players.
