Take 10 Londoners, three Mancunians, two Black Countrymen, two Cumbrians, two Geordies and two Mackems, sprinkle in one each from Liverpool, Cheshire, Devon, Northampton and Yorkshire – and see if they can end 60 years of hurt
England coach Thomas Tuchel put the team first in choosing his World Cup squad – just like Sir Alf Ramsey did 60 years ago, says an expert.
Grant Bage, an authority on the 1966 hero, said of Tuchel’s decision to leave out big names: “His words could have come straight from the mouth of Sir Alf.”
Tuchel had said: “We are trying to build the best team… not to select the 26 most talented players.”
Yesterday – announcing his shock England World Cup squad – Thomas Tuchel insisted “teams win championships”, adding: “Which is not necessarily the 26 most talented players.”
And, in leaving out some of his big names to focus on the team as a whole, historian and author Grant Bage says there are huge echoes of what Sir Alf Ramsey did back in 1966 – winning the World Cup for England.
READ MORE: Marcus Rashford responds to Man Utd backlash after making ‘dig’ following England call-upREAD MORE: England World Cup squad in FULL as Thomas Tuchel makes controversial calls
Grant said the German’s controversial calls to leave out Cole Palmer, Harry Maguire and Phil Foden are exactly the sort of decisions Sir Alf would have made.
He said: “The words that Tuchel spoke – in May 2026 – could have come straight from the mouth of Sir Alf Ramsey in May 1966.
“They have the same philosophy – the team is everything. Nothing else matters. Ramsey didn’t pick the best individual 22 players in his 1966 squad – he picked those who would win England the World Cup. The balance of the side was everything and it seems that Tuchel has the same mentality.”
Maguire’s mum called the decision to leave out the manchester-united-fc>Manchester United defender “disgusting” but Grant pointed to a chat Sir Alf, who died in 1999, once had with another towering centre-half, Jack Charlton.
He said: “Jack once asked Alf why he picked him. Ramsey replied: ‘I don’t pick the best players, Jack. I pick the best team for my plan to win the World Cup.’ And Geoff Hurst told me, over 60 years after first meeting him, about how, when recruiting Hurst to England Alf probed ‘not so much my skills as trying to find out what sort of person or character I was.’
“Hurst also heard him describe selection as ‘people who will not let me down on the day.’”
Ramsey famously stuck with Hurst instead of Jimmy Greaves in the Wembley final – and was rewarded with a hat-trick. Bage, whose biography The Unseen Sir Alf has just been released in paperback, added: “Tuchel is channeling everything Alf taught us back in 1966 – especially about how England might win things. It’s a very exciting first step and now the journey begins.”
Tuchel was careful to explain yesterday that his selection was not just about picking top individuals. He wanted players who knew what their role was “off the pitch” as well as on it and insisted they should all be “unselfish.”
He said: “From day one, we are trying to select and build the best possible team. Which is not necessarily to select the 26 most talented players. Teams win championships. What we are trying to achieve in summer can only be achieved as a team.”
Asked about being frightened about leaving talented players behind, he said: “No, I don’t fear because I am very confident in the group that we chose of which we arrive with. (There were) very difficult decisions, painful conversations.Difficult for the players, difficult to explain to the players. What we’re trying to achieve as a team, we try to nominate a balanced squad.”
Tuchel had the task of whittling down a 55-man squad into one to take to the USA, Canada and Mexico for this summer’stournament, which begins on June 11.
England’s first match is against Croatia on June 17 in Arlington, Texas. They then face Ghana in Boston on June 23 and Panama in New Jersey on June 27 before – hopefully – progressing to the knockout stages.
The World Cup is the first tournament for former Chelsea boss Tuchel, who was appointed to replace Gareth Southgate in 2024.
He said: “If everyone is selected, it was a given that from these 55 players, we have to leave some extraordinary talents, some extraordinary personalities at home.”
And Newcastle United defender Dan Burn summed up the mood of those included when he said simply: “I’m buzzing.” He added: “I’m glad Friday is here, I’ve known for a couple of days and I’ve not been able to say anything to anyone.”
