The recent success of Manchester United has also had an impact on the England squad. Thomas Tuchel brings two Red Devils players back into his XXL squad.
Manchester United are clearly on course for the Champions League under Michael Carrick; the Red Devils currently occupy third place in the Premier League and have a five-point lead over fifth-placed Liverpool FC. The successor to Ruben Amorim has brought success back to the English record champions, with Harry Maguire and Kobbie Mainoo flourishing under him, two players who played little (Maguire) and no role at all (Mainoo) under Carrick’s predecessor.
This has now also had an impact on Thomas Tuchel’s squad, as the German coach named the two United players, among others, in his 35-man squad on Friday. For Maguire (64 caps) and Mainoo (ten), it is a return to the squad for the Three Lions, for whom the duo last appeared in September 2024 – back then under Tuchel’s predecessor and interim coach Lee Carsley.
Tuchel will now be able to get his first impression of the pair – as well as Dominic Calvert-Lewin, James Garner and Jason Steele. Calvert-Lewin (29), an experienced striker, is having a strong season at Leeds United under Daniel Farke (ten goals in 26 games) and can now call himself an international for the first time since 2021. Everton’s Garner (25) has played for all of England’s youth teams, but has now been called up to the senior squad for the first time. The same goes for Steele, Brighton’s 35-year-old backup goalkeeper, who has only featured in cup competitions and completes the five-man goalkeeper pairing.
Compared to Tuchel’s last nomination, Lewis Hall also returns; Newcastle’s left-back was absent through injury for a long time and has also recently returned to the fore for the Magpies.
Why Tuchel nominates 35 players
Somewhat surprisingly, Real Madrid’s Trent Alexander-Arnold is not included. Although the right-back missed 21 games in his first season with the Whites due to two serious muscle injuries, Alexander-Arnold is currently fit again and was also a regular in the Champions League. Despite the bloated squad, however, Tuchel decided not to call up the 27-year-old, who continues to struggle in England’s national team.
“We’ve decided to split it into two groups: We’re bringing in players we haven’t seen yet and who haven’t played that much so far to give us a better overview and to boost competition for plane tickets to the USA,” said Tuchel, explaining his large squad. By comparison, national coach Julian Nagelsmann has only nominated 26 players. “From Friday and Saturday, ten or eleven players who were previously able to rest will be added. We will then go into the game against Japan with a new group and a new composition,” Tuchel continued.
The Three Lions easily mastered qualification for the World Cup in the summer with eight wins from eight games. England will face Uruguay on March 27, followed by Japan four days later. At the World Cup, they will face Croatia, Ghana and Panama in Group L. In the run-up to the tournament in the USA, Canada and Mexico, England will test against New Zealand and Costa Rica in Florida in June.
England’s squad at a glance
Goal: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), James Trafford (Manchester City), Aaron Ramsdale (Newcastle United), Jason Steele (Brighton & Hove Albion)
Defense: Dan Burn (Newcastle), Marc Guehi (Manchester City), Lewis Hall (Newcastle), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Tino Livramento (Newcastle United), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Nico O’Reilly (Manchester City), Jarell Quansah (Bayer Leverkusen), Djed Spence (Tottenham Hotspur), John Stones (Manchester City), Fikayo Tomori (AC Milan)
Midfield: Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), James Garner (Everton), Jordan Henderson (Brentford), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa), Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace)
Forwards: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Leeds United), Eberechi Eze (Arsenal), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Noni Madueke (Arsenal), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Marcus Rashford (Barcelona), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Dominic Solanke (Tottenham Hotspur)