Phil Foden and Cole Palmer have been left out of England’s World Cup squad. (Image: Getty)
England manager Thomas Tuchel has announced the final 26-man squad for this summer’s World Cup. The Three Lions manager has not been shy about leaving big names such as Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, Harry Maguire and Trent Alexander-Arnold out of the headlines as he aims to defeat the United States in England’s first World Cup since 1966.
Tuchel left out six players with at least 22 caps: Maguire, Foden, Alexander-Arnold, Luke Shaw, Jarrod Bowen and Conor Gallagher. The latter is less surprising, but with Maguire 33 and Bowen turning 30 later this year, the pair will no longer represent their countries at a World Cup. Maguire’s absence is not going well with his family. Palmer was hoping to play in his first World Cup but, like Manchester City playmaker Foden, the Chelsea attacking midfielder has paid the price for a poor performance at club level over the last 12 months. Despite their absence, Tuchel has picked some surprise names.
Newcastle United left-back Lewis Hall, who has only four caps to his name, was widely expected to be on the plane, but he missed out. His teammate Dan Byrne, 34, is a shock pick despite being a regular for the Magpies.
There was also a surprise call-up to the defense, with Jarrell Quansah selected. The former Liverpool player and Bayer Leverkusen centre-back, who can also play at right-back, was chosen ahead of Maguire, Hall, Luke Shaw, Levi Colwill and Fikayo Tomori in defence.
Quanash, 23, is the team’s least capped outfielder with just one cap. His international debut came in November last year, when he played the full 90 minutes as a right-back in Tuchel’s 2-0 away win against Albania.
Other outfielders on the team have at least four caps. The third big surprise is the selection of Ivan Toni as the backup striker. The 30-year-old former Brentford centre-forward had an excellent season with Saudi Arabia, scoring 42 goals and providing 11 assists.
Dan Byrne and Jarel Quansah head to USA with England (Image: Getty)
However, the fact that he plays in the lower leagues and has only seven caps at his age means he was not expected to be nominated. Toney’s selection may be due to his being a penalty-taking specialist and his different profile as a No. 9 to Harry Kane’s main replacement, Ollie Watkins.
Toney is rated higher than Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Dominic Solanke, despite Leeds’ Calvert-Lewin having scored 14 goals in the Premier League this season.
Other controversial but not too surprising decisions given Tuchel’s recent squads saw Jed Spence prioritized over Alexander-Arnold and Adam Wharton and James Garner earmarked for veteran Jordan Henderson. Arsenal duo Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke were brought in to replace Bowen, Foden and Palmer.
England World Cup squad total 26 players
goalkeeper
Jordan Pickford, Dean Henderson, James Trafford
Reece James, Tino Livramento, Mark Guehi, Ezri Konsa, John Stones, Jarrell Quansah, Nico O’Reilly, Dan Byrne, Jed Spence
Declan Rice, Elliott Anderson, Jude Bellingham, Jordan Henderson, Morgan Rogers, Koby Mainu, Eberechi Eze
Harry Kane, Ivan Toney, Olly Watkins, Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Gordon
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