Anthony Gordon starred as England beat Costa Rica 3-0 in their final 2026 FIFA World Cup warm-up friendly in Orlando, USA.
Gordon set up England’s opening goal with a ninth-minute cutback pass which Declan Rice put away in the far-bottom right corner.
Barcelona’s new signing then got himself on the scoresheet with a 68th-minute penalty, after Eberechi Eze’s shot was accidentally handballed by the elbow of Fernan Faerron.
Ollie Watkins wrapped up England’s victory with a 87th-minute rebound header from a deflection of Morgan Rogers’ cross.
England now turn their attention to their World Cup opener against Croatia on 17 June at AT&T Stadium, Arlington, USA, at 9pm UK Time.
Following a one-hour delay due to thunderstorms, England immediately seized control in the opening minutes and almost took a sixth-minute lead yet Jude Bellingham curled wide of the right corner.
That chance proved to be a warning sign as just three minutes later, Gordon was played up the left and swept past Shawn Johnson towards the byline, where he was able to cut back unmarked for Rice to smash into the far-right corner to put England in front.
Gordon then attempted to add his name onto the scoresheet from a similar move just five minutes later but his shot was blocked by Patrick Sequeira, before Harry Kane’s header from the subsequent corner was cleared.
Sequeira then punched away Kane’s 23rd-minute header from a free-kick, whilst Noni Madueke two minutes later fired wide from a deflection of Elliot Anderson’s cross.
Madueke’s wasteful finishing continued in the 36th minute as he pounced on a forward pass, yet managed to fumble his final touch as Sequeira came out and struck the right post instead of an empty net.
Any hope of improved luck in the second half evaded Madueke as he curled wide of the top left corner in the 48th minute.
England continued to dominate without much end product until Faerron accidentally handballed Eze’s shot in the 66th minute off his elbow, which led Gordon to double England’s lead two minutes later with a top-left corner strike from the penalty spot.
Substitute, Rogers nearly wrapped up victory from a 76th-minute pass but poked his shot wide much to his frustration.
Rogers however set up England’s third goal with a 87th-minute cross which Abraham Madriz deflected into Watkins’ path, which the forward calmly nodded in to atone for his club and country’s teammate error to wrap up a comfortable win.
Teams
England: Jordan Pickford (D.Henderson 63′), Reece James (Spence 63′), Ezri Konsa (Watkins 71′), John Stones (Guehi 63′), Nico O’Reilly (Burn 71′), Elliot Anderson (Mainoo 71′), Declan Rice (Eze 63′), Noni Madueke (Saka 63′), Jude Bellingham (71′), Anthony Gordon (Rashford 71′), Harry Kane (Rogers 63′)
Substitutes: Dan Burn, Eberechi Eze, Marc Guehi, Jordan Henderson, Dean Henderson, Tino Livramento, Kobbie Mainoo, Jarell Quansah, Marcus Rashford, Marcus Rashford, Morgan Rogers, Bukayo Saka, Djed Spence, Ivan Toney, James Trafford, Ollie Watkins
Costa Rica: Patrick Sequeira (Madriz 63′), Shawn Johnson (Quiros 46′), Jeyland Mitchell, Fernan Faerron, Darril Araya (Ruiz 81′), Aaron Salazar, Carlos Mora (Rodriguez 81′), Orlando Galo, Andrey Soto (Nunez 55′), Josimar Alcocer, Manfred Ugalde (Sinclair 82′)
Substitutes: Luis Flores, Abraham Madriz, Bayron Mora, Cristopher Nunez, Joseth Peraza, Haxzel Quiros, John Ruiz, Doryan Rodriguez, Orlando Sinclair
Referee – Facundo Tello
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