England to play NZ and Costa Rica before World Cup

England won all eight of their World Cup qualifying matches

England will complete their World Cup preparations with matches against New Zealand and Costa Rica in Florida in June.

The Three Lions will be based in Kansas City, Missouri for the tournament, which will take place across Canada, Mexico and the United States between 11 June and 19 July.

Thomas Tuchel's side will hold their pre-tournament training camp in Florida and face New Zealand on Saturday, 6 June before taking on Costa Rica on Wednesday, 10 June at venues yet to be announced.

England's training base for the tournament will be the state-of-the-art Swope Soccer Village, after the Football Association (FA) identified Kansas City as its preferred location in January 2025.

Swope Soccer Village is a training facility of Major League Soccer (MLS) club Sporting Kansas City, located in Kansas City's Swope Park.

England will play their three World Cup group games in the United States, contesting matches against Croatia in Dallas on 17 June, Ghana in Boston on 23 June, and Panama in New Jersey on 27 June.

Tuchel's squad will travel to each location from their Kansas City base and return after each game.

England's final fixtures on home soil before they travel to the United States will take place at Wembley next month, with matches against Uruguay on Friday, 27 March and Japan on Tuesday, 31 March.

England last met New Zealand - who won all five of their World Cup qualifying matches - in 1991, when the nations played two matches in Auckland and Wellington.

Costa Rica, who failed to qualify for this summer's tournament, played out a goalless draw with England in the group stage of the 2014 World Cup, while the Three Lions won the next meeting 2-0 as part of their preparations in 2018.

England completed a flawless World Cup qualifying campaign in November, achieving eight wins from eight without conceding a goal.