England’s World Cup Preparations Hit by Bizarre Off-Field Setback

England’s World Cup build-up was supposed to be about tactics, selection calls and the pressure of another major tournament. Instead, a strange logistics problem briefly became part of the story just days before their opening match.

The incident did not involve an injury, a training-ground dispute or a football decision. It came from outside the pitch, after team equipment went missing while England were moving from their Florida camp to their World Cup base in Kansas City, Missouri.