Jordan Henderson on England's World Cup Preparation in the US Heat

Jordan Henderson insists England will grow into the furnace of a US summer as the countdown to the 2026 FIFA World Cup tightens.

The Brentford midfielder started in Tampa on Saturday, where the air felt thick enough to cut and the temperature turned a friendly into an endurance test. England still found a way, edging New Zealand 1-0 thanks to Harry Kane’s instinctive header seconds before half-time.

Thomas Tuchel used the occasion to run the rule over his squad, sending out a completely different XI in each half. Henderson got the opening 45 minutes, a stint that doubled as both match practice and a live trial in coping with the kind of conditions that will define this tournament.

“You just build your capacity to these conditions,” he told the BBC, outlining the simple reality of tournament preparation in a country where climates change state by state. “I know that depends on where you're playing in the country, it can be different all over so it's hard to really adapt but it's about this week to build that capacity, to get used to the heat a little bit.”

The message is clear: this camp is as much about physiology as tactics. England’s staff have poured time and research into cooling strategies, recovery routines and marginal gains.

“The warm-up games will be good for that as well and to get that exposure just best we can,” Henderson said. “We've got an amazing team behind the team and how much research they've done and tried to cool down and recovery and all that sort of stuff so that's top, top level.

“Hopefully that can give us a little edge as well when we get into the tournament but it's the same for everyone so we've just got to go and try to just concentrate on the football.”

England meet Costa Rica on Wednesday at 9pm BST in their final tune-up before the serious business begins. Then comes the real thing: Croatia in Arlington, Texas on Wednesday 17 June, another late kick-off at 9pm and another test of lungs, legs and composure in the heat.

Brazil, Scotland and Norway sharpen their edge

While England sweated in Florida, Brazil were grinding out their own World Cup preparation in Cleveland, Ohio.

Igor Thiago, Brentford’s front man, led the line as Brazil beat Egypt 2-1. Bruno Guimarães opened the scoring early, only for Mostafa Zico to level almost immediately. The game flipped again shortly after half-time, when Carlo Ancelotti made eight changes, one of them Thiago. From there, Brazil found the decisive moment: Raphinha picked out Endrick, who drilled his finish into the far corner.

Brazil now move on to New York, where they begin their Group C campaign against Morocco on Saturday 13 June at 11pm BST.

Scotland, meanwhile, sent a statement of their own in Harrison, New Jersey. Aaron Hickey played just over an hour as Steve Clarke’s side dismantled Bolivia 4-0, all four goals coming before the interval.

Lawrence Shankland struck, Scott McTominay added another, and Che Adams helped himself to two, turning the first half into a rout and the second into a controlled procession. It was the kind of confident, ruthless display managers crave in the final stretch before a major tournament. Scotland open their Group C campaign against Haiti in Boston on Sunday 14 June at 2am BST.

On the same patch of New Jersey turf, Kristoffer Ajer’s Norway were held to a 1-1 draw by Morocco. Brahim Díaz put Morocco in front early, only for Martin Ødegaard to level in the second half. Ajer, another Brentford presence on international duty, played 72 minutes in Harrison.

From Tampa to Cleveland, from Harrison to Boston and New York, the World Cup build-up is already stretching players across a continent. The heat is real, the travel unforgiving. The question now is simple: who turns these brutal rehearsals into an advantage when the tournament finally kicks off?