England fans think three players have played themselves out of 2026 World Cup squad

Fans think three players have potentially played themselves out of World Cup contention with their performances in England's 1-0 defeat against Japan.

Thomas Tuchel's side produced an underwhelming display at Wembley in their final international friendly at home before the World Cup.

The German selected a 35-player squad ahead of the international break, with the aim to allow players rest after the first friendly against Uruguay.

He therefore named a much-changed starting XI against Japan, with some enforced chances to his planned squad caused by the withdrawals of eight players between matches.

It was the visitors, who are ranked number 19 in the world, who opened the scoring on 23 minutes through Brighton winger Kaoru Mitoma.

JAPAN TAKE THE LEAD AT WEMBLEY! 🇯🇵

Brighton's Kaoru Mitoma puts his side 1-0 up v England ⚽️#ITVFootball | @JapaneseFbl pic.twitter.com/ueA4FCTFAS

— ITV Football (@itvfootball) March 31, 2026

The goal came via a counter-attack, with Reims forward Keito Nakamura cutting the ball across the box for Mitoma to finish well past Jordan Pickford into the bottom right corner.

Japan posed a threat going forward throughout, and it took England until the 77-minute mark to register their first shot on target of the match.

Tuchel had earlier made wholesale changes on the hour mark, with Cole Palmer, Phil Foden - who lined up in a false nine role - Ben White and Nico O'Reilly all being taken off as the manager added fresh legs.

Palmer and Foden, in particular, came in for heavy criticism among England fans on social media, while the performances of White - who likely wouldn't have been on the plane to the United States in any case - also wasn't well-received.

One wrote: "Not a chance Palmer and Foden should be anywhere near the World Cup squad. Terrible."

A second said: "Foden and Palmer making the case louder that they need rest from June 12 to July 20."

A third stated: "Phil Foden should NOT be on that plane to the World Cup! I don't know how he keeps getting into these squads."

A fourth added: "Phil Foden and Cole Palmer have been awful tonight. Been awful all season. They shouldn't be in the England squad for the World Cup."

A fifth, meanwhile, wrote: "Ben White performance enhanced Trent's chances. Terrible in the attacking third and not even good defensively."

While a sixth stated: "Hopefully that's the end of Ben White for England. Absolutely dreadful."