Soccer-England to play New Zealand and Costa Rica in preparatory matches before World Cup


April 9 (Reuters) - ⁠England will play New Zealand ⁠and Costa Rica in Tampa ‌and Orlando in their final preparatory games before this summer's World Cup campaign, ​the English FA said ⁠on Thursday.

New ⁠Zealand, playing in their first World ⁠Cup since ‌2010, will play England on June 6 ⁠before Thomas Tuchel's side face Costa ​Rica, ‌who reached the quarter-finals in ⁠2014, four ​days later.

"Both fixtures will form a key part of England’s ⁠preparation camp in South ​Florida ahead of moving to the squad’s base camp in Kansas City, ⁠Missouri, for the duration of the tournament," the FA said in a statement.

England, who reached ​the quarter-finals in ⁠the previous edition, begin their Group ​L campaign against ‌Croatia on June 17.

(Reporting ​by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; Editing by Alex Richardson)

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