LONDON — Three key England first-team players will miss the international friendly against Japan at Wembley on Tuesday, after a series of fitness issues hit the Three Lions’ squad just 24 hours ahead of kickoff.
The biggest absentee is captain and star striker Harry Kane, the all-time leading goalscorer for both England and Bayern Munich. The forward picked up a minor knock during a team training session, according to the English Football Association, and coaching staff made the call to rest him as a precautionary measure. Despite being ruled out of the match, Kane has remained with the national squad to undergo ongoing evaluation of his injury, with no major concerns raised about the severity of the issue.
Kane is far from the only high-profile name missing from Thomas Tuchel’s lineup for this international break. The England head coach already confirmed on Monday that Arsenal stars Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice would also be sidelined for the fixture, after both players reported feeling unexplained discomfort during routine pre-camp medical assessments.
The spate of fitness issues comes at a highly sensitive point of the season for all three players, who face a grueling run of fixtures over the coming weeks with their domestic clubs. Both Kane’s Bayern Munich and Arsenal sit atop their respective national leagues — the Bundesliga and the Premier League — and both sides have advanced to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League, putting them in contention for major domestic and European titles before the end of the campaign. Clubs and national team staff alike have prioritized player welfare in this congested fixture schedule, leading to the decision to rest the injured stars rather than risk further damage that could impact their club campaigns.