Kobbie Mainoo started in England’s 1-0 defeat against Japan, while Marcus Rashford and Harry Maguire both appeared as second-half substitutes.
Thomas Tuchel called three Manchester United players up to his England squad for the March internationals.
Harry Maguire, Kobbie Mainoo and Marcus Rashford were all given chances to impress Tuchel ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
The trio are in contention to make the squad, but nothing has been decided yet with seven games remaining in the 2025/26 Premier League season.
Harry Maguire playing against England
Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
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Kobbie Mainoo at the end of the Premier League match between Manchester United and Aston Villa at Old Trafford in Manchester, England, in 2026.
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Kobbie Mainoo, Harry Maguire and Marcus Rashford ratings against Japan
Following England’s first-ever defeat against an Asian nation, we rounded up how the newspapers reacted to each United player’s performance.
Most of the attention was on Mainoo, given that he started the game with lots of promise after his first call-up under Tuchel.
The Mirror hailed Mainoo for being “neat and tidy” and gave him a 7/10 rating.
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Mainoo earned a 6/10 rating from BBC Sport after starting the game brightly before struggling to cope with some of Japan’s attacks. They gave the same rating to Maguire and Rashford before hailing the centre-back for being a “constant threat from set-pieces late on”.
Meanwhile, The Sun gave Mainoo a harsh rating of 3/10 because they felt the United midfielder couldn’t keep up with the pace of Japan for the opening goal. The newspaper also criticised Mainoo’s passing.
Mainoo will be hoping that he left a good enough impression on Tuchel to keep him in contention for a place in the World Cup squad.
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Kobbie Mainoo playing for England against Uruguay
Photo by Alex Davidson – The FA/The FA via Getty Images
Kobbie Mainoo won more duels than Elliot Anderson in midfield
United fans got the chance to see Mainoo play alongside Elliot Anderson in midfield.
The Nottingham Forest midfielder has been linked with a move to Old Trafford this summer, and he performed well against Japan.
However, in terms of duels, Mainoo came out on top.
Mainoo won 4/5(80%) of his ground duels and 2/3 (67%) of his aerial duels.
In comparison, Anderson won 4/9 (44%) ground duels and none in the air.
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