Germany maintain winning run as Portugal, Belgium claim warm-up victories

BRUSSELS, June 6 : Harry Kane's first-half header earned England a 1-0 World Cup warm-up win over New Zealand in Tampa on Saturday, while there were also victories for Scotland, Germany, Portugal and Belgium as teams fine-tune ahead of the tournament's kickoff next week.

With England manager Thomas Tuchel rotating his entire team at halftime and handing minutes to 22 players in the scorching 32 degrees Celsius (89.6 degrees Fahrenheit) heat, the result was secondary to the process.

But Kane's clinical finish with a glancing header into the bottom corner from Djed Spence's cross offered a timely reminder of the skipper's importance to their hopes in the tournament.

The match was designed to test the squad's readiness for the World Cup conditions as England showed flashes of cohesion without ever fully settling into a rhythm.

There was a debut for 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha, who is training with the team but not part of the World Cup squad, while England's four Arsenal players Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke were scheduled to join the team later on Saturday, having been given time off after playing in last weekend's Champions League final.

Four-time world champions Germany secured a ninth win in a row with a 2-1 victory over World Cup co-hosts United States in Chicago.

Kai Havertz headed in Joshua Kimmich's free kick to give them a second-minute lead, but the Americans snatched a stunning equaliser when Antonee Robinson thundered in a volley after defender Jonathan Tah had headed away a corner.

But Leroy Sane rifled in from 12 metres to restore Germany's lead in the 57th minute.

Portugal defeated Chile 2-1 in an ill-tempered clash in Oeiras where both teams finished with 10 men as Rafael Leao and Ivan Roman received their marching orders.

Goncalo Guedes gave the home side the lead before Bruno Fernandes added a second from outside the box. Lucas Cepeda scored a late consolation for Chile.

"We were superior in the 90 minutes, we managed to control the game very well, especially having a lot of the ball in the last third," Fernandes told RTP.

Striker Romelu Lukaku continued his comeback from injury for Belgium with 25 minutes off the bench as they enjoyed a 5-0 victory over 10-man Tunisia in Brussels.

Leandro Trossard, Charles De Ketelaere, Kevin De Bruyne, Dodi Lukebakio and Nicolas Raskin scored the goals as Lukaku grabbed an assist.

"We wanted a good performance in front of our fans," Belgium coach Rudi Garcia said. "It is a good preparation for the World Cup, we know this team can do great things."

A much-changed Scotland scored all their goals in the first half as they romped to a 4-0 success over Bolivia in New Jersey.

Che Adams bagged two to go with strikes from Lawrence Shankland and Scott McTominay in an impressive performance.

Switzerland and Australia drew 1-1, while Bosnia and Herzegovina were held to the same scoreline by Panama.