Kane's late strike seals friendly win for England over New Zealand

Harry Kane's late strike proved decisive as England edged out New Zealand 1-0 in a pre-World Cup friendly match played in Florida. The Bayern Munich forward scored in first-half injury time, converting a pass from Djed Spence to register his 79th international goal for England. This goal continued Kane's prolific season, bringing his total for club and country to 67.

Despite controlling the majority of the game, England found it challenging to breach New Zealand's defense, a task made more difficult by the hot and humid conditions in Tampa. New Zealand adopted a largely defensive strategy, successfully limiting England's attacking threats throughout the match.

England manager Thomas Tuchel used the friendly as an opportunity to experiment, making wholesale changes at halftime and fielding two distinct lineups over the 90 minutes. The Three Lions will begin their World Cup campaign against Croatia on June 17, followed by matches against Ghana and Panama in Group L.

While England, aiming to end a six-decade major trophy drought, are considered strong contenders based on their consistent performance in reaching the quarterfinals of the last four major tournaments, New Zealand will take some confidence from the narrow defeat. The loss followed a heavy 4-0 defeat to Haiti in their previous match. New Zealand faces a tough challenge in Group G, alongside Iran, Belgium, and Egypt.