England squad confirmed for 2026 World Cup and Thomas Tuchel has just drawn a line through some of the biggest names in English Football.
The 26-man squad is out. Harry Maguire is not in it. Phil Foden is not in it. Cole Palmer is not in it. Three players who would have walked into most England squads over the last few years are watching this tournament from home. Tuchel did not blink.
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Maguire broke the news himself on Thursday evening. He said he was confident he could have played a major part this summer after the season he had. He said he was left shocked and gutted by the decision. The Manchester United defender has been in excellent form since Michael Carrick took over in January. It did not matter. Tuchel looked elsewhere.
Foden and Palmer are even bigger shocks on pure talent alone. Two of the most gifted attackers England has produced in a generation. Both have struggled for form this season. Tuchel decided he could not carry them. Adam Wharton and Luke Shaw are also out. Lewis Hall was tipped by many to start at left-back. He is not even in the squad. Trent Alexander-Arnold misses out. Morgan Gibbs-White was not rewarded for his strong season at Nottingham Forest. Alex Scott can count himself unlucky.
Then there are the surprises in the other direction. Ivan Toney is in. The 30-year-old has scored 42 goals for Al-Ahli this season but has only one goal in seven England appearances and has not featured for the national team since last May. Tuchel saw something. Jordan Henderson is in at 35 years old. Experience won over youth. Noni Madueke made it despite scoring just two Premier League goals this season.
Dan Burn, Djed Spence and Jarell Quansah are the defensive wildcards. Kobbie Mainoo is rewarded for his resurgence at Manchester United. Jordan Pickford, Marc Guehi, Elliot Anderson, Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka were never in doubt. Harry Kane leads the line with 58 goals for Bayern Munich this season.
England face New Zealand and Costa Rica in warm-up friendlies before opening their tournament against Croatia on June 17. Ghana and Panama round out the group. Tuchel has made his calls. Some of them will be debated for years.
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Foden and Palmer out but Madueke in with 2 goals all season Make it make sense 😂
Trent Alexander-Arnold not even in the squad,What does this guy have to do to get picked?
Maguire dropped after the season he just had? Tuchel is either a genius or completely mad, Time will tell.
Kobbie Mainoo deserved that. He fought his way back after Amorim left. Respect.
Saka, Bellingham, Kane, Rice. The spine is world class. The rest of the squad has question marks everywhere.
This squad either wins it all or crashes out in the group. No in between.
Jordan Henderson at 35 but Experience matters in tournaments People forget that
Lewis Hall was supposed to be the starting left-back. Now he’s not even going, Brutal.
Croatia first game is scary. Modric still runs that midfield. England better be ready.
Tuchel clearly values system fits over star names. Can’t say previous managers didn’t try the opposite and fail.
Ivan Toney scoring 42 in Saudi is not the same as scoring 42 in the Premier League
No Palmer feels like the maddest call. Even on an off season he can change a game in 10 minutes.
Ghana and Panama should be wins. Should be. This is England we are talking about.
Dan Burn from Newcastle to World Cup. What a story that is.
Reece James made it. If he stays fit, he starts. Big if though.
Tuchel has either overthought this completely or he’s seen something nobody else has. No middle ground.
Alex Scott must be fuming. He was balling for Bournemouth the last few months.