Easy friendlies or tough opposition? England's World Cup dilemma

England have been able to start preparing for next summer's World Cup for months, such has been the ease of their qualifying campaign. But the task of picking warm-up games is a tricky one for coach Thomas Tuchel.

Unlike some of the other leading contenders, England have been starved of top-level competition since losing to Spain in the final of Euro 2024.

Now the Three Lions must plot their two friendly matches in March, plus potential games in North America before their first World Cup game - and there are decisions to be made about who they play.

England's relegation to League B of the 2024 Uefa Nations League put them at a disadvantage.

While the likes of France, Italy, Belgium and Netherlands were playing against each other in League A, England faced three teams from lower down the world rankings - Greece (ranked 48th in September 2024), Republic of Ireland (62nd) and Finland (64th).

England won five of those six games, with a surprise home loss to Greece the only dropped points.

Coupled with a World Cup qualifying campaign where England have won every match without conceding a goal, there is a concern they could arrive at next summer's tournament undercooked.

It is not like the Nations League could be truly used to experiment either, as Lee Carsley took interim charge of that campaign after Gareth Southgate's departure.

England had been planning to play two friendlies in the United States in June this year, but that was scuppered by being drawn into a World Cup group of five teams rather than four.

While England were left with two free dates for friendlies, other confederations were largely busy with their own World Cup qualifiers.

With Serbia, ranked 36th, the strongest team in England's qualifying group, it means Senegal (19th at the time) are the highest-ranked team the Three Lions have played since Euro 2024. And they lost that game at the City Ground 3-1.

The highest-ranked team England have beaten in that time is Wales (30th) - 3-0 in a friendly in October.

England will not confirm their opponents for the March friendlies until after the World Cup draw on 5 December.

Reports suggest fixtures against Uruguay and Japan are pencilled in. But with England set to be in Pot 1 for the draw, and those two countries in Pot 2, there is a chance one of them could be in the same group - which would rule out a friendly.

Preparations are complicated, too, by an early start to next summer's tournament.

The Premier League ends on 24 May, with the Champions League final on 30 May.

The earliest England could play their first game is on 13 June, when Group C kicks off.

That would only leave a small window to fit in the two games Tuchel wants to help the England squad acclimatise to the high temperatures and playing conditions.

But if England are drawn for a later start - Groups K and L begin on 17 June - there is a little bit more room to play with.

In 2018, England were able to fit in two warm-ups, on 2 and 7 June, before they played their opening Group G game on 18 June.

That season the Champions League final - when Real Madrid beat Liverpool 3-1 in Kyiv, with Jordan Henderson and Trent Alexander-Arnold involved so missing the first friendly - was played earlier on 26 May.

England did not play any warm-up games before the 2022 World Cup, with the October international break scrapped before the November start in Qatar.

Before the Nations League began, England's men's team would regularly arrange matches against countries from around the world. But friendlies are now relatively rare - England have only played 14 since the 2018 World Cup, compared to 37 in the seven years before then.

England's women's team have enjoyed much more freedom.

Before the 2019 Women's World Cup they were able to play 11 friendlies, including testing fixtures against Sweden, Brazil (twice), the USA and Spain.

Before the 2023 tournament they played nine matches against opponents of different strengths, plus the Finalissima against Brazil.

They reached the semi-finals in 2019 and the final in 2023.

So should the men's team look to organise games against top countries, or versus nations who play in a similar style to their World Cup opponents?

Ideally, you would do both. Before the 2018 World Cup, England played the Netherlands and Italy (who had failed to qualify) in March before taking on Nigeria and Costa Rica - as direct preparation for group stage games against Tunisia and Panama.

But England need to weigh up two kinds of preparation, and consider possible knockout opponents too.

They have not faced a South American team since the 1-0 defeat by Brazil in March 2024.

And they have not played a team from Asia (discounting a friendly against Australia in October 2023) or Concacaf since matches against Iran and the USA at the 2022 World Cup.

The draw will be the guide, but Uruguay (ranked 15th) would present the chance to play a team from South America, and be their strongest opponents for two years. Japan, now ranked 19th, are the leading nation in Asia.

However, you cannot help but wonder if England might be missing a true top-level test before the World Cup.