Kane fires England to uninspiring win over New Zealand in Florida

[p]Having flattered to deceive during a winless March international break (D1, L1), [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/england/j9N9ZNFA/"]England[/a] looked determined to kick off their World Cup preparations with a positive display in Florida.[/p][p]The Three Lions dominated possession in a one-sided opening 20 minutes, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/watkins-ollie/rHnOkDD8/"]Ollie Watkins[/a] dragged a low effort wastefully wide of the target, before [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kane-harry/v5HSlEAa/"]Kane[/a] saw a speculative strike from range parried away by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/crocombe-max/xSeBjmIu/"]Max Crocombe[/a].[/p][p]Keen to avoid a similar humiliation to their 4-0 defeat to Haiti on Wednesday, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/new-zealand/rLctHkpU/"]New Zealand[/a] probed for a breakthrough themselves, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/garbett-matthew/8Id57pqd/"]Matthew Garbett[/a]’s curled effort smartly saved by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pickford-jordan/SKTJdUtH/"]Jordan Pickford[/a].[/p][p][b]Despite that chance, England remained on the front foot, and after Kane was denied from point-blank range by Crocombe, the Bayern Munich striker finally breached the All Whites’ defence in first-half stoppage-time, glancing a header into the bottom corner from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/spence-djed/GQAxKWes/"]Djed Spence[/a]’s inviting delivery.[/b][/p][embed guid="2131eec4-5b21-4f31-ab13-5c5eca6f52cf" url="https://x.com/England/status/2063364281228235164" social-type="twitter" /][p]Tuchel made 11 changes at the break, including an international debut for 17-year-old [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ngumoha-rio/rejpF30d/"]Rio Ngumoha[/a] and a first cap in 12 months for Al-Ahli forward [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/toney-ivan/W6A3dA7c/"]Ivan Toney[/a].[/p][p]Despite the flurry of substitutions, England nearly doubled their lead in the 49th minute when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/burn-dan/fyP3wtr0/"]Dan Burn[/a] directed a header agonisingly against the post from eight yards. [/p][p]That remained the Three Lions’ best opportunity of the second period with time heading into the final quarter-hour, as the New Zealand rearguard held firm under pressure.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bellingham-jude/QNvlPm7s/"]Jude Bellingham[/a] threatened a late second for England when he fired over from a promising position in the box, but Tuchel’s men were ultimately forced to settle for a one-goal victory, as they turn their attention to their final World Cup warm-up game against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/costa-rica/C4ePE2kq/"]Costa Rica[/a].[/p][p]As for New Zealand, who sit 85th in FIFA’s world rankings, they’ll be encouraged by a vastly improved display ahead of their tournament opener against Iran on June 16.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kane-harry/v5HSlEAa/"]Harry Kane[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/england/j9N9ZNFA/"]England[/a])[/b][/p][h2][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/england-j9N9ZNFA/new-zealand-rLctHkpU/summary/stats/?mid=hpJGkndD"]Catch up on the match stats with Flashscore[/a][/h2][image alt="Match stats" id="bee46eac-9430-4893-aabb-8b123184587a" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="4cdac954-bf39-4569-9361-8af80ffda920" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /]