England vs New Zealand: World Cup warm-up preview, predictions & bet builder tips

• Fixture: England vs New Zealand

• Date: Saturday, June 6, 2026

• Kick-off: 9pm BST

• Venue: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa Bay, Florida

Our prediction: England 4-0 New Zealand

England

Our predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Pickford / Spence, Stones, Burn, Livramento / Mainoo, Anderson / Rogers, Bellingham, Gordon / Toney

New Zealand

Our predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Paulsen / Payne, Surman, Bindon, Old / Stamenic, Rufer / Just, McCowatt, Randall / Wood

England kick off their preparations for the 2026 World Cup with a warm-up friendly against New Zealand. Rather than the usual send-off at home, Thomas Tuchel decided it would be beneficial to acclimatise to the heat and humidity in North America. It's their first of two friendlies, with Costa Rica still to come before their Group L opener against Croatia, and it could be an unfamiliar line-up with Arsenal's players given extra time off after the Champions League final.

New Zealand, who are in Group G, have already played one warm-up, which resulted in a chastening 4-0 defeat by Haiti. The match betting odds have England as overwhelming favourites at 1/10, so there's little value there. Instead, we're predicting New Zealand to concede four for the second consecutive game, in a confidence-boosting win for the Three Lions.

The All Whites' best chance of advancing from Group G is probably as one of the best third-placed teams, although history is on their side having gone unbeaten in their previous World Cup campaign in 2010 - although they didn't win a game either.

New Zealand are led by Premier League icon Chris Wood, but they have failed to score in three of their last four games. Meanwhile, England have kept clean sheets in seven of the last ten. We're predicting Jordan Pickford to keep another shutout as he prepares for a big tournament.

It could be an experimental England side put out by Thomas Tuchel in their first warm-up match, but after playing a reduced role towards the end of the season for Newcastle as they looked to the future, he may take the opportunity to build up some fitness for Anthony Gordon.

The winger has of course now joined Barcelona in a big-money move, and he should be fired up to prove a point that he belongs at one of the biggest clubs in the world. Gordon last scored for England in October against Latvia, and we're backing him to get on the scoresheet in Florida. Although his opposite man, world renowned Tim Payne, may have something to say about that.

One of the most prominent trends in football to emerge from the 2025/26 season was the dominance of set-pieces, exemplified by Arsenal on their way to the Premier League title. Set-pieces are sure to play a major role again in North America, with the conditions meaning extra emphasis will be placed on marginal gains. We reckon Tuchel will take the chance to work on some set-piece routines here in the warm-up, so we're tipping there to be over 7.5 corners in the match.

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All odds and markets are correct as of the date of publication.