• Tuchel ideally wants World Cup sides on 6 and 10 June

• Most qualified teams not available on second date

The Football Association is experiencing difficulties in securing suitable opposition for England’s World Cup warm-up games owing to their late start to the expanded 48-team tournament.

England open against Croatia on the last day of the first round of games on 17 June, six days after the first match between Mexico and South Africa, and Thomas Tuchel wants final preparation games as close to his team’s tournament kick-off as possible.

• Grand slams proposed setting up a player council

• Australian Open not involved in the pay dispute

The tennis pay row has escalated further with the world’s top 10 male and female players rejecting an offer from the grand slams to set up a player council that would give them a greater say in the running of the major championships.

In correspondence sent to Wimbledon, the French Open and US Open last week, the players turned down the offer of a meeting with representatives of the three grand slams at the Indian Wells Masters in March and accused the tournament organisers of ignoring their concerns about pay and player welfare.