England vs Japan prediction 31.03.2026 | International Friendly

England return to Wembley after a frustrating 1:1 draw against Uruguay last Friday. Ben White made a goalscoring return to international action following a four-year absence, but a late penalty from Federico Valverde secured a deserved draw for Marcelo Bielsa’s side.

The Three Lions looked ponderous and struggled to create clear goalscoring opportunities against their well-organised South American visitors.

A lack of attacking continuity has led to several low-scoring England results over the past year. Six of their last 11 matches, including each of their last three fixtures, have finished with under 2.5 goals scored.

Head coach Tuchel is likely to make several changes to his first XI. Harry Kane is set to return in attack, while fresh options such as Noni Madueke and James Garner could feature.

Japan come into Tuesday’s friendly fixture after grinding out a narrow 1:0 win against Scotland on Saturday. Junya Ito’s 84th minute goal secured victory in a low-key contest where neither side offered much quality in the final third.

The Blue Samurai have enjoyed a fine run of form, picking up four successive victories, including a notable 3-2 win against Brazil last year. However, that high-scoring result has been the exception rather than the norm, with Japan seeing under 2.5 goals in six of their other eight matches over the past year.

Defensively strong and dangerous on the counter-attack, Japan have kept a clean sheet in six of their last eight matches. With England struggling to create chances against Uruguay, the visitors will be confident of making Tuesday’s contest another tight and hard-fought encounter.

Head coach Hajime Moriyasu is likely to make some changes to his first XI this week. Ayase Ueda is among those likely to earn a recall to the first XI. Takumi Minamino and Takafesa Kubo are two notable absentees for the visitors.