Mitoma looking forward to Wembley return

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Japan face England in a World Cup warm-up game on Tuesday.

2026-03-31T06:00+01:00

Kaoru Mitoma's World Cup preparations continue on Tuesday when Japan face England at Wembley. 📷Nigel Keane / Pro Sport Images

Kaoru Mitoma is looking forward to tonight's visit to Wembley Stadium and hopes it will be a better experience for him – and Albion’s England fans – than the last.

Mitoma was in the team beaten on penalties by Manchester United in the semi-final of the FA Cup in 2023 on his most recent visit to the national stadium.

He returns there tonight with Japan for a friendly against England as both countries prepare for the World Cup this summer.

It’s rare to be able to play in such a great stadium as a member of the Japanese national team so we are looking forward to the challenge,” said Mitoma. “Hopefully Brighton supporters might come too.”

Mitoma came off the bench on Saturday in the second half to help the Blue Samurai beat Scotland 1-0 at Hampden Park.

It was a deserved victory, and Mitoma reflected that the margin might have been bigger.

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"In the second half we opened up quite a bit and created many chances, which was good because we won. But it would have been better if we had made it 2-0 or 3-0,” he added. "Scotland aren’t easy to play against. It was a difficult game and it’s great we won."

A much-changed England team, with Albion’s Jason Steele on the bench, drew 1-1 against Uruguay on Friday and Thomas Tuchel is expected to name a much stronger line-up to face the side currently 18th in the FIFA world rankings (England are fourth).

"Against England, I want us to be even more aggressive in our defending and see how much we can win the ball back. In attack, there may not be many chances, but I want to test the quality of those we do create,” added Mitoma.

"Some of the England players know me, so if they are wary of me I think I can use that to my advantage."