England announce final fixtures before World Cup squad announcement | OneFootball

The FA have announced that England will face Uruguay and Japan in March as they continue their preparations for the 2026 World Cup.

Both opponents sit inside the top 20 of the FIFA World rankings, and will join the Three Lions in the USA, Mexico and Canada at the tournament. These matches will be the last set before England manager Thomas Tuchel names his final World Cup squad in May.

Upon confirmation of the fixtures, Tuchel said: “We are really pleased to have these two fixtures confirmed as our World Cup year takes shape. 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 and we can’t wait to see our fans again at Wembley.”

Both matches will be played at Wembley Stadium, with England taking on 16th-ranked Uruguay for the first time since their losing 2-1 to their South American counterparts at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. This will also be the first time Marcelo Bielsa’s side have faced England since March 2006, where the Three Lions emerged as 2-1 victors at Anfield.

This will be just the fourth occasion England and 18th-ranked Japan have faced each other, with the last coming in May 2010 prior to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, where England came out on top, winning 2-1. This will be the first time facing each other at Wembley since June 1995.

At the finals, England will play Croatia, Ghana and Panama in Dallas, Boston and New York/New Jersey respectively. Before the tournament starts, England are also expected to play two warm-up games in the USA, with details yet to be confirmed.

Fixture timings

Friday 27th March – 7:45pm UK time

Tuesday 31st March – 7:45pm UK time