Improved All Whites left to rue painful lapse just before halftime in World Cup warm-up loss to England

Sunday, 7 June 2026

England beat the All Whites 1-0 in Tampa in their final FIFA World Cup warm-up match, with Harry Kane scoring just before halftime at Raymond James Stadium.

Max Crocombe played 84 minutes in goal and appears to be coach Darren Bazeley's first choice goalkeeper for the World Cup.

New Zealand will fly to San Diego to set up camp before their World Cup opener against Iran in Los Angeles on June 15 (June 16 NZ time).

At Raymond James Stadium, Tampa: England 1 (Harry Kane 45’+2) All Whites 0. HT: 1-0

A much-improved All Whites team will head into the FIFA World Cup having restored some pride, even though they lost 1-0 to title contender England in their final warm-up match on Saturday afternoon in Tampa (Sunday morning NZ time).

World No 85 New Zealand were left to rue the concession of a goal in first-half stoppage time, after they had got within a minute of staying locked at 0-0 with their fourth-ranked opponents heading into the break.

England captain Harry Kane dropped off his marker, Michael Boxall, then made a late run between him and fellow Kiwi centre back Finn Surman before getting a glancing header on an inswinging cross from left back Djed Spence.

Goalkeeper Max Crocombe could do nothing about it, on a day where it became more likely he will be the All Whites’ World Cup stopper. Coach Darren Bazeley did not confirm that when he spoke after the match, but giving Crocombe 84 minutes and Alex Paulsen six plus second-half stoppage time seemed to say a lot.

The All Whites needed to be better at Raymond James Stadium after losing 4-0 to world No 81 Haiti in the first of two World Cup warm-up matches in Florida, at Inter Miami Stadium in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday night.

They were, with Finn Surman – bouncing back strong after his worst showing in a New Zealand shirt – and Joe Bell and Matt Garbett – who came in to start at the base of midfield and on the right of the attacking midfield trio respectively – among the top performers. Ben Old, playing left back for the final half-hour, was also impressive, both going forward and in defence.

England were playing their first warm-up match after a week training in West Palm Beach and are expecting to be alive in the World Cup a lot longer than New Zealand, so there was a mismatch of intent. They finished with 72% possession and had 23 shots to three, but many of them were harmless attempts from distance, with just four of them on target.

The All Whites’ best chance came midway through the first half, when Garbett made a run across the field from the right, then cut back inside before shooting from just outside the box. His curled effort forced Jordan Pickford to get down to his left and palm the ball away.

Ollie Watkins – shooting across goal after getting in down the right – and Harry Kane – forcing Crocombe to parry a shot from the edge of the box away, then making him palm a back-post header out for a corner – had good chances before the one that put England in front.

With fresher legs once they made 11 changes at the break while Bazeley made one – Alex Rufer for Joe Bell, who was playing his first match in over a month – England came on strong, but were kept at bay, and the All Whites finished one quality moment away from claiming a draw.

They are unlikely to dwell too long on what could have been as their focus now turns to the World Cup and their opener against Iran, but it was a question that hung in the air at fulltime.

“I don’t think anybody was worried about England [being too good],” Bazeley said “We know they’re a good team, we know they have good players, but I think during the first half [the All Whites] knew they were in that game and they were at level defensively, and in possession in moments.

“At halftime, we talked about being 1-0 down against a team ranked four in the world, potential World Cup favourites, and we’re in this game, and when will you ever get another chance to have this?”

Surman lived up to his reputation as a great shot blocker, while also getting in the way of several crosses and cutbacks. At right back, Tim Payne was attacked over and over and the sight of Tyler Bindon, usually a centre back, playing there later was a hint at an option Bazeley might be considering.

Bell’s return alongside Marko Stamenić gave the All Whites their most reliable midfield pairing, but Sarpreet Singh has now gone two matches without having any real moments of creative quality. Bazeley defended his work in retaining possession, but it’s far from clear what the best combination of attacking midfielders might be, with no more games from which to gather evidence.

Wood led the line well with some solid hold-up play, but found a few balls from his team-mates just out of his reach. There were other moments where they would have been served putting balls into him earlier and backing him to get there.

“It was improved from our last hit-out,” Bazeley said, later stressing these matches will be forgotten if the All Whites can go on and get the World Cup win they are after, whether that’s against Iran, Egypt or Belgium – another top-10 team.

“We competed pretty well defensively. We looked more solid, more compact than our previous game. England are obviously a very good team and had some good possession, but didn't overly hurt us at times. We had some moments in possession where we got into some pretty good areas – in the first half on the counter – and it was just obviously disappointing, conceding the goal.”

Liberato Cacace appeared the most frustrated by the manner and the timing of Kane’s goal – he had his hands on hips for an age and was the last to leave the field at the break.

“It hurt,” Bazeley said of the timing of the goal, adding: “Coming in at halftime was difficult.

“The boys felt it was an improvement. They felt they were in the game. It was hard work, but it should be. It should be hard work, international football. When you're playing against a team ranked four in the world, it's going to be hard. And I thought we dealt with it pretty well. And now the next step for us is, can we now create chances when we're playing against teams of this level?”

The All Whites were leaving Tampa on Saturday night and flying to San Diego, where they will set up camp as their focus turns to their World Cup opener against Iran in Los Angeles on June 15 (kickoff 1pm June 16 NZ time).

They are set to have a couple of days to recover and have a breather before returning to the training pitch and beginning their preparations for the biggest match the team has had since their last World Cup appearance 16 years ago.