England fans in disbelief over Thomas Tuchel decision in New Zealand World Cup warm-up match

England supporters have criticised head coach Thomas Tuchel for making a potentially catastrophic decision in their World Cup warm-up match against New Zealand.

Tuchel’s side ramped up their pre-tournament preparations by facing New Zealand at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.

As expected, Arsenal quartet Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze did not feature due to joining the camp late following their participation in the Champions League final.

Jordan Pickford started in goal, with John Stones, Marc Guéhi, Jarell Quansah and Djed Spence making up the defence.

Jordan Henderson, Kobbie Mainoo and Morgan Rogers featured in midfield, with Marcus Rashford, Harry Kane and Ollie Watkins in attack.

READ MORE: Roy Keane revealed why England will struggle at World Cup as three favourites named

Ahead of kick-off, concerns remained over the soaring temperatures, which reached around 33 degrees Celsius on Saturday (June 6).

Meanwhile, the state of the pitch was also a talking point ahead of kick-off, with the turf appearing patchy and dry.

Tuchel joked: “We’ve decided to blame the pitch if things don’t go well... New Zealand said it doesn’t look good, but it’s playable. Let’s see.”

However, some England fans did not see the funny side of the players being forced to compete on such a poor surface with less than two weeks to go before their World Cup opener against Croatia.

Several fans took to social media to voice their annoyance at captain and key player Harry Kane starting the match, with many suggesting an injury to the Bayern Munich striker could all but end England’s hopes of lifting the trophy.

One said: “Watching every Harry Kane touch terrified of an injury...”

Another added: “Why start Kane against 250-1 opposition at best? It makes no sense in the event of an injury to Kane.”

A third claimed: “Why is Kane playing tonight on that terrible pitch!? Wrap that man in cotton wool until 3 hours before our game against Croatia, please.”

While a fourth commented: “There is no need to play Kane until the Croatia game, in case of injury.”

Despite the concerns, Kane opened the scoring, nodding home Djed Spence's cross just before half-time.

Following the New Zealand clash, England take on Costa Rica on June 10. As previously mentioned, England take on Croatia in their World Cup opener before facing Ghana and Panama.

Thomas Tuchel on Harry Kane’s fitness

With the England striker having played 51 games for Bayern this season, Tuchel insisted that he would “take care of him” throughout the tournament by trying to "take some minute off him".

Tuchel said: “Ideally we can take some minutes off him, but if the matches are close do we really do this? Do we take our main goalscorer, our captain off? Maybe not.

"The most important thing is the shape Harry is in. He's in top shape, he is ready to go. He was the leading player who set the intensity in training today, on a defensive training day. He's used to high pressing, high intensity in the opponent's half with Bayern Munich.

"We don't have to be worried about him at all, even if it's hot and humid. He's shown the whole week he is ready, determined, he was so influential in Bayern's campaign, he scored three in the cup final.

"We have some good options but Harry is the main guy up front."