Updated: 26 May 2026 14:08 BST |
5 min read
England head coach Thomas Tuchel was never going to please everyone with his squad selection for the 2026 World Cup, but he probably didn’t expect this level of blowback.
The Three Lions squad for the tournament this summer was announced last week and caused some controversy due to a flurry of high-profile omissions.
Cole Palmer and Phil Foden will not travel to North America, though they are both coming off disappointing campaigns for Chelsea and Manchester City, respectively. Harry Maguire, judging by his reaction on social media following the announcement, clearly thought he would be a part of the squad, too.
Going by form, the strangest omissions were Newcastle’s Lewis Hall and Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White.
Hall has probably been the Magpies’ standout player in 2025/26 and superbly kept Lamine Yamal at bay as Barcelona played at St. James’ Park in the Champions League last-16. Funnily enough, the man who plays at left-back when Hall isn’t fit, Dan Burn, was selected by Tuchel, but he will also provide cover at centre-back as well as full-back this summer.
As for Gibbs-White, he scored more goals in the Premier League than any other Englishman this season, and that was from midfield.
Trent Alexander-Arnold also wasn’t included, but that didn’t come as much of a shock as he has only played once for England under Tuchel.
CONFIRMED: England’s squad for the 2026 World Cup ✈️ pic.twitter.com/YR7EijcBHU
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) May 22, 2026
The inclusions of Djed Spence, Jarell Quansah and Jordan Henderson raised some eyebrows due to their below-par performances or overall lack of minutes this past campaign.
“From day one we were clear we were trying to build the best possible team, which is not necessarily the 26 most talented players,” Tuchel said after the squad announcement.
“Teams win championships – and what we’re trying to achieve can only be achieved as a team. We have players ready and committed to the idea of team spirit and being unselfish.
“We have specialists for different scenarios – when we’re leading, when we’re chasing a result. We have always said we want to be a strong set-piece team, so we have specialists for that and we want to be a strong penalty team, we have specialists for that.”
With the players Tuchel has at his disposal, he’s how England will likely line-up this summer, when everyone is fit.
(4-2-3-1): Pickford; James, Konsa, Guehi, O’Reilly; Anderson, Rice; Saka, Bellingham, Rashford; Kane.
Jordan Pickford has been England’s number one for a while now and is their undisputed best option again.
There’s a bit of a changing of the guard in the middle of defence as it looks like Ezri Konsa and Marc Guehi are now first choice after a decade of the likes of John Stones and Maguire.
Due to the selections Tuchel made, the midfield pairing of Elliot Anderson and Declan Rice picks itself, though Kobbie Mainoo and Henderson will provide admirable cover.
The German definitely has a decision to make when it comes to the three players supporting Harry Kane, though. Jude Bellingham will likely be given the nod at number 10 despite Morgan Rogers’ superb season at Aston Villa and the fact he has been a regular for England over the last year.
Rogers performed better during the 2025-26 campaign than both Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford, but he is deployed best as a No.10 so Tuchel may not want to shoe-horn him in on one of the flanks.
Anthony Gordon is another option on the wings, while Ollie Watkins and Ivan Toney will provide backup to Kane.
England are looking to win the World Cup for the first time since 1966. At that tournament, we witnessed one of the most iconic sporting moments in history as Bobby Moore lifted the famous Jules Rimet trophy aloft while wearing that legendary red shirt.
For those of us mere mortals who will never lift the World Cup, you can get the next best thing from LEGO© who have released a special World Cup set including a souvenir trophy.
Similarly, The FIFA World Cup 2026™ ball is another iconic set that is unique to this competition. It is a LEGO replica of the size 5 football that will be used across North America this summer but is distinguished by popping open to display a packed stadium celebrating the winning team.
The FootballTransfers app
Check out FootballTransfers’ new app for all of football’s big storylines, transfer rumours and exclusive news in one convenient place directly on your mobile device.
The FootballTransfers app is available on Google Play and in the Apple App Store. Download here:
•Google Play
•App Store
