Tuchel throws first pitch as England enjoy downtime
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- Thomas Tuchel threw the ceremonial first pitch at Kauffman Stadium, home of the Kansas City Royals, joined by captain Harry Kane, Dan Burn, and Djed Spence roughly 24 hours after England beat Croatia 4-2 in Dallas
- England routed Sporting KC 5-1 in a behind-closed-doors practice match at their Swope Soccer Village training facility, with Ivan Toney scoring a hat-trick and Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins also on target
- The practice match was split into two halves of about 25 minutes each and featured fringe players including Jordan Henderson, Eberechi Eze, Marc Guehi, Kobbie Mainoo, and Jarell Quansah who did not log significant minutes against Croatia
- Harry Kane, who scored twice and played the full 90 against Croatia, skipped the Sporting KC friendly but posted on social media about the Royals outing, saying he'd 'love to give batting a go one day'
- Players were granted most of Thursday off after arriving back from Dallas around 10:30pm local time Wednesday, with family and friends given camp access before preparations begin for Tuesday's Group L match against Ghana in Boston (21:00 BST)
Why it matters: Tuchel's downtime rotation keeps Kane and other starters fresh while giving fringe forwards like Toney (hat-trick) and Watkins real minutes — squad depth Tuchel has openly craved as England build toward the Ghana fixture in Boston on Tuesday.
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