Les Reed's young England Lions were beaten 1-0 by Japan in their opening game of the tournament being held in Dubai.
Carter had a great chance to put England in front in the first half but his shot sailed over the bar with the goal wide-open.
Japan's Daisuke Sakata scored the only goal of the game 9 minutes into the second half in front of 12,000 fans at the Al-Maktoum stadium.
England now play Egypt on Tuesday and will need a result to take into their final group game against Colombia on Friday.
England: Andrew Lonergan, John Welsh, Chris Carruthers (James McEveley, 46), David Fox (Tommy Wright, 65), Steven Taylor, Matt Kilgallon, Jerome Thomas, Gary O'Neil (capt), Michael Chopra, Darren Carter, Eddie Johnson (Lee Croft, 77). Subs not used: Ross Turnbull, Ben Bowditch, Martin Cranie, Phil Ifill, Andrew Taylor.