England star nets hat-trick in behind-closed-doors friendly 24 hours after Croatia win

Ivan Toney scored a hat-trick for England in a 5-1 friendly victory against MLS side Sporting Kansas City.

Less than 24 hours after the 4-2 win over Croatia, Thomas Tuchel set up a friendly at England’s World Cup base camp, the Swope Soccer Village.

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The fixture was arranged to give minutes to members of the squad who did not appear or played very little in Wednesday night’s match.

It allowed Eberechi Eze, Jarell Quansah, Kobbie Mainoo, Dan Burn and Marc Guehi to maintain their fitness levels and adapt to playing in the heat.

Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins also added to the scoresheet, with the contest featuring only two 25-minute halves.

Only 13 players appeared in the match, while other squad members recovered at the team hotel.

Tuchel took precautionary measures after key stars like Harry Kane suffered cramp following their win against Croatia, with the skipper seen leaving the stadium with a leg strap.

This is the second behind-closed-doors friendly the Three Lions have played, with Toney also netting three goals last week against Miami FC.

It has been noted that a reason for the 30-year-old’s surprise inclusion is his experience playing in hot temperatures during his time at Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli.

Friends and family of the squad were allowed to be in attendance for the friendly.

Kane explained how the friendly was beneficial and said: “It was great. Great for the guys who didn’t get enough minutes yesterday to top up the tank.

“It was a good test. Thanks to Sporting for doing the game. They held themselves to a great standard. They got a nice free-kick goal themselves.

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“Obviously from a football point of view, we knew it would be a game to score a few goals which we did.

“But they put a good test in and we got out of it exactly what we needed.”

The entire squad will train together ahead of their second Group L game against Ghana on Tuesday, as the team prepare to travel to the Boston Stadium.

Who are Sporting Kansas City?

They are an MLS team based in Kansas City and compete in the Western Conference.

They were founded in 1995, originally known as the Kansas City Wizards and rebranded in 2010 as they moved to their new home, Sporting Park.

They have an impressive fanbase which regularly sell-out home games and the club has 14,000 season ticket holders.

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Their head coach is Raphael Wicky, who was once an Atletico Madrid player and represented Switzerland 75 times.

He was only appointed in January 2026 and currently boasts a 20 per cent win rate after the 15 games he has taken charge of at the club.

The club have achieved silverware over the years, however their status as a top MLS side has slowly deteriorated since 2021, finishing 27th overall last season.