Ben White was booed by England fans after scoring and then gave away a penalty for Uruguay to draw 1-1, as the Wembley crowd gave a damning verdict on his return to the international stage.
White tapped in at the back post for his first international goal – but his celebration was to the soundtrack of jeers.
There were more boos when it was judged after a VAR check he had fouled Federico Vinas to allow Fede Valverde to score a 94th-minute penalty to equalise.
Disgruntlement from the stands was also heard at full-time. On a night when England players were supposed to be seizing an audition for a World Cup spot, the reviews were not good. They were underwhelming individually and as a unit. But it was White in the spotlight.
He was not even upstaged by some alarming officiating, which saw Ronald Araujo escape a red card for a bad tackle on Phil Foden and Manuel Ugarte seemingly be shown two yellow cards but not sent off, before what Harry Maguire later called a “ridiculous” penalty award against White.
White’s call-up to this squad as a replacement for Jarell Quansah was controversial. Thomas Tuchel admitted the defender would have to “clear the air” with team-mates he left behind when he exited the 2022 World Cup early due to personal reasons. He rejected a subsequent call-up from Gareth Southgate, following a disagreement with then assistant boss Steve Holland.
That self-imposed international exile ended when Tuchel took charge. But this was a damning message to Tuchel and White from the England fans: many haven’t forgiven him and many, seemingly, do not think he should be back in the mix for a place at the 2026 World Cup.
White was booed when he came on as a second half sub. But surely, never before as an England goal scorer been immediately chastised after netting like this.
His late penalty giveaway was unlucky, with his outstretched boot arriving a fraction of a second after Vinas went for a 50-50. But Valverde punished White and England from the spot to send the fans that booed him home unhappy.
The home crowd had little to shout about before White’s goal, which came via a messy set-piece. Few, if any, England players can claim to have seized their chance to convince Tuchel they deserve a spot on the plane this summer.
James Garner showed his all-round attributes. Harry Maguire looked like he hadn’t been away for 18 months. But Phil Foden again failed to deliver in an England shirt and Noni Madueke was forced off after a heavy first-half challenge.
Ronald Araujo was fortunate not to be punished – either by referee Sven Jablonski or VAR – for his bad tackle which left Foden limping. Tuchel was incensed by that call. But in the bigger picture, he will feel he has more questions than answers about who in this squad can step up and deliver in the summer.
More to follow…
What next for England?
England host Japan in another friendly at Wembley on Tuesday; kick-off 7.45pm.
That will be the final chance for Thomas Tuchel to look at his players on the international stage before he announces his World Cup squad at the end of the season.
England then have World Cup warm-up matches with New Zealand and Costa Rica before their tournament opener against Croatia on June 17.
