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Fans walk in the rain as the kick-off for the International Friendly soccer match between England and Costa Rica has been delayed due to stormy weather in Orlando. Bradley Collyer/PA Wire/dpa
England's last pre-World Cup warm-up friendly against Costa Rica finally got under way an hour late after a heavy thunderstorm hit Orlando.
The inclement weather descended at around 1 pm (1700 GMT) and battered the Florida city relentlessly, with torrential rain and lightning filling the skies.
Thomas Tuchel's side were due to face the Central American outfit at 4 pm, but the pitch at the Inter&Co Stadium was heavily waterlogged an hour-and-a-half before the start.
The excellent drainage quickly cleared the pitch, but with the threat of further lightning strikes, kick-off was put back to 5 pm.
Weather problems in Florida is not a new thing for England, whose pre-World Cup friendly against Honduras in 2014 was delayed by 45 minutes – midway through the match – after a thunderstorm in Miami.
Jude Bellingham played in the number 10 position once the action started, with the Real Madrid star given the chance to nail down a starting position in next week's World Cup opener against Croatia.
Bellingham appears in a two-way fight with Morgan Rogers for the shirt.
Declan Rice started, having joined up with the squad at the weekend following Arsenal's Champions League final defeat, with Noni Madueke also named in Tuchel's starting XI.
Following the match, England will return to their West Palm Beach hotel and enjoy some downtime before flying to their World Cup base in Kansas City on Saturday.
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