England's first World Cup training session: What did we learn?

England held their first training session at their Kansas City base

Published 14 June 2026, 06:01 BST

England touched down at their permanent World Cup headquarters in Kansas City on Saturday and wasted no time getting to work.

After leaving their luggage at the Inn at Meadowbrook Hotel in Prairie Village, where the squad will reside throughout their time in the United States, they travelled 20 minutes to their practice facility at Swope Soccer Village for their initial workout since arriving in Missouri.

The local community welcomed Thomas Tuchel's squad warmly, though with significant security measures in place, as the team was accompanied by a protective motorcade.

There was nothing, however, shielding the players from the intense heat, with temperatures reaching roughly 31°C as the team underwent their drills.

Here is what BBC Sport observed from England's opening training session in Kansas City.

More of the same for England?

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Behind the scenes: BBC Sport England media day

BBC Sport reported on Friday that there was a growing belief that the lineup which faced Costa Rica last week will be the one Tuchel fields in the team's opening match against Croatia on Wednesday — and there were additional signs pointing to that possibility during Saturday's training.

For a portion of the session, the 10 outfield players who started against Costa Rica — Jude Bellingham, Ezri Konsa, John Stones, Nico O'Reilly, Elliot Anderson, Harry Kane, Anthony Gordon, Declan Rice, Noni Madueke and Reece James — trained separately from the remainder of the squad.

Of course, it could simply have been a coincidence that these 10 were grouped together — but for anyone seeking hints about how Tuchel's side might line up in Dallas on Tuesday, reading into that would be understandable.

One clear potential change to the team that defeated Costa Rica would be Bukayo Saka replacing Madueke, but Tuchel's acknowledgement that the former needs careful management throughout the tournament due to fitness issues has raised doubts about the Arsenal winger's availability.

Saka trained apart from what seemed to be the starting group and still did not appear to be moving freely.

Theft played down by England

Speaking after the training session, players seemed mindful of downplaying the impact of the theft that resulted in equipment being stolen on Friday.

It emerged on Friday night that items had been taken from a vehicle transporting equipment from England's pre-tournament camp in Florida to Kansas City.

On Saturday night, Kansas City police confirmed that two men, Mustafa Salik and Erfan Kamal, had been charged in connection with the incident, which saw $18,000 worth of property sold.

The Football Association, however, has stated clearly that no elite performance equipment went missing and that most of what was stolen has now been recovered.

It was reported that the items taken included four pairs of football boots, one ball, a pair of goalkeeper gloves and training kit.

Commenting on the theft, Dan Burn said: "I've not lost anything personally, we found out from you guys (the media).

"It's with the police now so not sure how much I can comment. It's not really been spoken about so that just shows for us that they aren't too worried about it — it's not really disrupted our preparations."

Shirts, stuffed lions & Lego - the stolen England items worth $18,000 Published 11 hours ago

Shirts, stuffed lions & Lego - the stolen England items worth $18,000

Published 11 hours ago

Preparations intensify

With England's World Cup preparations now in full swing, the emphasis on the group matches will increase.

If the Florida camp was focused on adapting to the hot and humid conditions, training in Kansas City will concentrate more on getting ready for their group games against Croatia, Ghana and Panama.

Head coach Tuchel said: "We have acclimatised, they have worked hard enough and been exposed to enough heat — we are in a good place.

"The focus is on Croatia, today is about settling in and from tomorrow it's about three days preparation for Croatia."

Captain Harry Kane echoed similar sentiments, stating: "This is where the business starts, this is going to be our home for the next six weeks hopefully — we look forward to getting started.

"I thought it was a high level performance against Costa Rica — and now we prepare for a tough first game. Croatia are a difficult team, they have proved in the last two World Cups that they can be one of the best teams in the tournament and we have to be ready for that."