England narrowly missed out on inflicting New Zealand's first defeat at Eden Park in 30 years as the All Blacks came from behind to win 24-17 on Saturday.
The victory was secured by Damian McKenzie's penalty five minutes from the end, with New Zealand also sealing the 2-0 Test series win.
Mark Tele'a was the star for the All Blacks as he scored a try in both halves, pouncing on an England mistake for his first.
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso responded just moments later, after latching onto Marcus Smith's cross-field kick, with the latter then setting Tommy Freeman up in the same way to see England take a one-point lead into half-time.
They then opened up a four-point gap with a penalty, but New Zealand found their fight, with Beaumont Barrett wonderfully bursting in behind to set Tele'a up for his second.
England were denied the chance to cross for a late try, which could have set up a 24-24 draw with the conversion, but a television match official referral saw them penalised inches from the line.
"In the second half we were not as accurate as we wanted to be, we gave away a few too many penalties and gave them easy points and territory," Maro Itoje told Sky Sports after the game.
"When you are playing a good team, you cannot really do that. We gave their backfield opportunities to run it back at us. Beauden Barrett and the rest are good players, so we don't want to give them opportunities, but we live and we learn.
"It is tough, but I think we showed some improvements in the way we play the game, but at the end of the day it just wasn't good enough today.
"We are at the start of the journey, we are a young team, and we can only get better for these experiences."
Data Debrief: All Blacks hot streak stays alive
New Zealand are now unbeaten across their last 49 Test matches at Eden Park (W47 D2), with their last loss in the city of Auckland coming against France in 1994.
Meanwhile, England have won just two of their last nine Test matches away from home (L7, excluding neutral venues) after winning three in a row previously. However, each of their last four losses outside of England have come by margins of fewer than 10 points.
'We have the players' - Tuchel confident of talent in England squad
Thomas Tuchel believes England have the players and the talent to go far in the 2026 World Cup.
The German will officially take charge of the Three Lions from January 1 but was present at the qualifying draw which took place at UEFA headquarters in Zurich on Friday.
Tuchel is tasked with reaching the World Cup for an eighth consecutive edition, with England reaching the semi-finals and quarter-finals in the previous two under Gareth Southgate.
Asked if he felt he had the players available to win the competition, should they qualify, Tuchel told Sky Sports: "I knew this before and watching the matches, we have the players, the talent and the characteristics to go far. But now, first of all, we have to prove it in the qualifiers.
"It gets closer and closer, the gaps between the big nations and the smaller nations. It closes every tournament.
"It's more difficult to win your games, so we have to show full respect and show our top level from March when it starts."
One of those players is striker Harry Kane, who came under criticism following Euro 2024, in which he scored just three goals, earning him a share of the Golden Boot, amid underwhelming performances on their run to the final.
Kane was a regular fixture for Tuchel after joining Bayern Munich last August and scored 44 goals in all competitions under the 51-year-old, who says the striker will remain as captain.
"There's no need at the moment to look at other options. It's like for Harry, for everyone else as well," he said.
"I admire him, for his quality, for his leadership, for his character. The players decide in the end if they play, or they don't play. It's always like that.
"I'm happy to have this group of players, including Harry, big personalities and quality. The job now is to find and build the best group that people are excited to watch us, that they feel inspired watching this team."
England will face Serbia, Albania, Latvia and Andorra in Group K in a bid to reach the tournament held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, and have never lost against any of those four sides.
"I have huge respect for Serbia and Albania. They can always surprise," Tuchel added.
"They have a strong history of football, of technical football, of emotional crowd and emotional players and emotional groups. They have famous ex-players as coaches so we should be very aware of that.
"England never played Latvia, so this is a new experience for all of us, and then we have Andorra, where we are huge favourites, but we have to qualify. This is the most important thing.
"This is where all the focus goes. There cannot be any other approach than taking it seriously, take it with respect and make it happen before we can dream the dream."
England face Serbia, Albania, Latvia and Andorra in World Cup qualifying
Thomas Tuchel’s England have been placed in Group K alongside Serbia, Albania, Latvia and Andorra in qualification for the 2026 World Cup.
Tuchel officially takes charge of the Three Lions on January 1, and was in attendance for the draw which took place at the UEFA headquarters in Zurich on Friday.
England were in pot one with the top seeds, so they avoided European champions Spain, 2022 World Cup finalists France, as well as Germany and Italy.
The Three Lions do, however, face a reunion with Serbia, who they beat 1-0 in their opening game of Euro 2024, but will have confidence of progressing from their group.
England have never lost against the four sides placed alongside them in Group K, and will be hopeful of qualifying for the World Cup for an eighth consecutive edition.
Elsewhere, Craig Bellamy's Wales were drawn in Group J, where they will face Belgium, North Macedonia, Kazakhstan and Liechtenstein.
Scotland were put in Group C with the Nations League quarter-final losers of Portugal against Denmark, Greece and Belarus.
Northern Ireland were placed in Group A, alongside the Nations League quarter-final winners of Germany versus Italy, Slovakia and Luxembourg.
The games will be played across five international breaks between March and November 2025.
The top team from each of the 12 groups qualifies automatically for the World Cup, which will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The second-placed teams going into the play-offs, with a total of 16 European teams hopeful of qualifying for the tournament.
World Cup qualifying draw in full:
Group A: Germany or Italy (winner), Slovakia, Northern Ireland, Luxembourg.
Group B: Switzerland, Sweden, Slovenia, Kosovo.
Group C: Portugal or Denmark (loser), Greece, Scotland, Belarus.
Group D: France or Croatia (winner), Ukraine, Iceland, Azerbaijan.
Group E: Spain or Netherlands (winner), Turkiye, Georgia, Bulgaria.
Group F: Portugal or Denmark (winner), Hungary, Republic of Ireland, Armenia.
Group G: Spain or Netherlands (loser), Poland, Finland, Lithuania, Malta.
Group H: Austria, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, San Marino.
Group I: Germany or Italy (loser), Norway, Israel, Estonia, Moldova.
Group J: Belgium, Wales, North Macedonia, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein.
Group K: England, Serbia, Albania, Latvia, Andorra.
Group L: France or Croatia (loser), Czechia, Montenegro, Faroe Islands, Gibraltar.
Woakes replaced by Potts for final New Zealand Test match
England have replaced Chris Woakes with Matthew Potts for the third and final Test during their tour of New Zealand in Hamilton.
The visitors are coming into the Test with the Crowe-Thorpe trophy already secured, having won in Christchurch and Wellington.
With the pressure off to some extent, England are using it as a chance to rotate their seamers, with Potts winning his first cap since playing against Pakistan in October.
This will be Potts' 10th Test cap for England as he faces the same opposition against whom he had success in 2022 during his first summer as an England international.
"We're looking forward to giving Pottsy an opportunity to see what he can do this week," said captain Ben Stokes.
"He's got a massive engine on him. He can go all day and bowl a lot of overs, but not just that, he's a very skilful bowler.
"He's a versatile bowler, you can use him with the new ball and the short-ball plan that we go to because he's so fit. He can bowl you 20 overs one day, then rock up again and bowl you another 20."
Potts took 14 wickets in three Tests four years ago and, now 26 years old, will be aiming to stake a long-term claim for a place in England's pace-bowling options.
Woakes might have been expected to keep his spot in the team had the series been alive, having resurrected a previously floundering international career.
Despite a disparity between his figures at home and on the road, he ended the year with eight wickets at 35.63 in three overseas appearances.
"Woakesy came into the winter tours with a bit of scrutiny behind his away record, but I think what he has done has proved a lot of people wrong," said Stokes.
"He's been fantastic for us, he was great in Pakistan and pretty influential over here too.
"At 2-0 up, you put yourself in an easier position to make that change, and we want to be giving opportunities and experience to the guys who don't always get that."
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