In their final friendly before the 2026 World Cup begins, England took on Costa Rica. Although the game was delayed by 30 minutes due to bad weather in Orlando, the Three Lions made a strong start and dominated throughout to win the game 3-0.

This was the last chance for Thomas Tuchel to get a look at his players before the tournament begins, with games against Croatia, Ghana and Panama to come in Group L. Having beaten New Zealand 1-0, which was an uninspired last outing, supporters would have been hoping to get a little more excitement in this match, and things certainly started brighter here.

It took just 10 minutes for England to get the breakthrough. Anthony Gordon powered past his man to reach the byline before cutting a pass back to Declan Rice, who swept the ball into the bottom corner with his weaker foot.

The other notable incident of the first half was when Noni Maduke ran through on goal, rounded the goalkeeper, but somehow then managed to hit the post. Gordon also won a soft penalty, which was correctly overturned thanks to the intervention of VAR.

The second half saw a whole host of changes made, with substitute Eberechi Eze’s shot leading to a handball and a penalty, which was converted by Gordon. Ollie Watkins then added a third with a poacher’s finish with only minutes to play.

England Ace Struggles vs Costa Rica

With Bukayo Saka not fully fit, it remains unclear if the Arsenal star will start against Croatia in England’s opener. Tuchel explained in the week: “Bukayo is just not there yet. Some things are missing… consecutive trainings. They took very good care of him [at Arsenal] and were very aware of it and we will do a little bit the same. He is at the moment not able to do every training session through the week and then play. He is still going to be managed.”

As such, Madueke was given the nod against Costa Rica. Although the 24-year-old worked hard and looked lively at times, his lack of quality when the big moments came his way was evident. At half-time, ITV pundits Roy Keane and Ian Wright both agreed Madueke needed to do more with his end product.

The most eye-catching moment came when he was put through on goal by Jude Bellingham. He took a fine touch to go around the goalkeeper but then missed the open goal, hitting the post. Wright claimed the winger should have used his right foot, while Keane simply insisted it didn’t matter which foot, he should have still scored.

Madueke was then replaced by Saka in the 63rd minute.

England Fans Not Satisfied With Madueke Ahead of World Cup

With Madueke looking like he could start ahead of Saka, should his Arsenal teammate not be deemed fit enough for that World Cup tie on 17 June, England fans have expressed their concerns. Indeed, many were unimpressed by the player vs Costa Rica, insisting he should not be given a place in Tuchel’s first starting XI of the tournament.

One fan said: [This first half has proved two things, England have no chance at winning the World Cup & Madueke + Bellingham should not start a single game.’

Another asked: ‘Madueke. How can he possibly start for England?’ While a third said:

A fourth wrote: ‘If England need to win this World Cup, Madueke shouldn’t start any of their games.’

Reacting directly to the miss, another remarked: ‘That was woeful from Madueke.’ One more added:

‘Madueke that is absolutely shocking. Get yourself on a plane home immediately.’

Others summed up the mood, noting: ‘Madueke is shocking. Absolutely shocking’. And finally: ‘Nah Madueke cannot start for England, how on earth has he missed that?’

England‘s friendly match with Costa Rica has been delayed after a weather warning was issued for the area surrounding Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay.

The match, which serves as the Three Lions’ final action until they begin their 2026 World Cup campaign, had been due to kick-off at 9pm UK time on Wednesday evening.

However, a weather warning was issued on the big screen at the stadium, telling supporters to “take shelter” amid heavy storms and flooding to the pitch.

England Confirm Delay to Costa Rica Friendly

The official England Twitter account confirmed the news of the delayed kick-off on social media. A brief statement read:

Although no official timeframe was given for when the game is likely to get underway, a report from The Mirror stated that the fixture is still expected to take place this evening.

Extreme weather conditions are known to frequently disrupt US sporting fixtures during the summer months. A total of six matches were halted during last summer’s Club World Cup due to storms.

One game that was hit particularly badly was Chelsea’s round of 16 tie with Benfica, which took more than four-and-a-half hours to complete after it was disrupted due to weather.

With just a week to go until England’s opening Group L game against Croatia in Arlington, Texas, England boss Thomas Tuchel will be hopeful that the weather clears enough for the match to be staged as he looks to finalise preparations for his first tournament in charge.

England were last in action on Saturday, where the side laboured to a 1-0 victory over New Zealand in which few players made a positive impression.

An update from ITV Football indicates that the match will go ahead, with a kick-off time of 22:00pm (UK) now expected. Conditions may be less than ideal, but Tuchel will be grateful for the opportunity to see his side in action.

With just hours remaining until the start of the 2026 World Cup, US president Donald Trump has been forced to defend the country’s stance on immigration, which has led to mass anger and confusion among many.

Although Mexico and Canada are also hosting matches, the vast majority of the tournament will take place in the USA. Players, staff and officials have begun to arrive in the US over the last week, leading to to a number of viral incidents.

Most notably, Somali referee Omar Artan, who had been set to take charge of a number of World Cup matches, was denied entry to the country on Monday. Despite having previously been granted a visa, Artan was told he would not be allowed to enter the country due to “vetting concerns”.

It later transpired that the decision was made as Artan shares the same name as a leader of the Al Shabab military group. However, the referee is far from the only figure to encounter resistance when attempting to enter the country.

2026 World Cup Visa Controversies Explored

Daniel Dunn via Reuters

Earlier this week, footage emerged showing players and staff from the Senegal camp being checked on the tarmac by airport security as they prepared to board a plane from Raleigh, North Carolina to San ​Antonio, Texas. Fans were enraged at the situation, accusing officials of treating the group “like criminals”.

Supporters themselves have also complained about nonsensical visa rules, with some feeling that they have been “excluded” from the tournament.

Iranian fans, in particular, are fuming. The country recently confirmed that they had had their entire allocation of tickets revoked ahead of the tournament.

Such has been the strength of public feeling about the immigration and visa issues that President Trump was forced to address the issue during a press briefing in the Oval Office on Wednesday.

Asked to respond to concerns that “people are afraid that it’s going to be harder and harder to get visas to come from outside [for the World Cup]”, Trump declared:

“We’re working on it very closely to make sure the right people come into our country.”

Trump had previously claimed: “It’s the most successful World Cup they [Fifa] have ever had,” before touting the number of tickets sold for the tournament.

Fifa President Defends Visa Controversies

In defending the actions of the US, Trump also mentioned how complimentary Fifa president Gianni Infantino had been about the host nation.

Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Infantino addressed the visa issues:

“It’s not easy when you have 300,000 accredited people, majority of which from outside of the US, to process them to vet them, you don’t know. Unfortunately, our world is a very aggressive world and security goes above everything and you need to respect the decisions which are taken and when I say to chill, I don’t mean to chill and do nothing.

“I mean to trust us, that we are working behind the scenes, we are trying to understand and there are things we can know, things we cannot know, things we are told, not told.

“We always try to make the situation as positive as possible and to find solutions. Sometimes we manage, other times not.

“I think it has already been successful to bring Iran to play in America. I don’t know who would have managed to do that, and of course, everyone here believes it’s the right thing to do but again, we don’t live on the moon; we live on planet earth, and you have to deal with different situations. We try to do our best and I hope we’ll have some good news.”