Ethan Nwaneri has been called up to England’s pre-World Cup training camp squad, just 24 hours after Thomas Tuchel named his 26-man squad
England have called up Arsenal star Ethan Nwaneri alongside three other emerging talents to their pre-World Cup training camp squad, which will convene in Florida ahead of their tournament curtain-raiser.
Thomas Tuchel announced his 26-man squad, featuring several unexpected selections and some contentious exclusions, on Friday, but has subsequently expanded it to strengthen the training camp roster.
Nwaneri opted to leave Arsenal in January after a lack of playing time and secured a loan move to Marseille. The winger formed part of the Under-21 squad that won the Euros last summer.
Fulham’s Josh King and Liverpool’s Rio Ngumoha have also been called up, as has Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott.
He was considered to have an outside possibility of making the 26-man squad, and Tuchel acknowledges he was under consideration.
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The England boss said: “We will take some young players out who will train with us in the size of the squad that we need, and we have the two friendly matches to take care of the minutes and the load on the players.
“I’m happy to have these players, especially Alex who was on the [long] list of 55 [players for the 26-man World Cup squad] and obviously he didn’t make the first cut but the reaction of him was outstanding and the commitment and wish to be in pre-camp and a step closer to the team was not even a question for him.”
England will face New Zealand at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on June 6 before taking on Costa Rica at the InterandCo Stadium in Orlando on June 10.
Seven days later, their World Cup campaign officially gets under way against Croatia, the side that eliminated them at the semi-final stage eight years ago.
Matches against Ghana and Panama will conclude their group stage fixtures, with England widely expected to top the table as they look to finally end their long wait for international glory, having fallen short in two finals since 2021.
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Tuchel has made the bold call to leave out Phil Foden, Cole Palmer, Harry Maguire and Trent Alexander-Arnold from his squad.
He has instead opted for the likes of Ivan Toney, Djed Spence and Dan Burn — selections that were not foregone conclusions — with the England boss keen to defend his choices.
He said: “I think from day one we were very clear that we are trying to select and build the best possible team, which is not necessarily to select and collect the 26 most talented players.
“Teams win championships, it is as simple as that.”
