Kobbie Mainoo and Harry Maguire are the high=profile returns.
England manager Thomas Tuchel surprised everyone on Friday by calling up 35 players for the World Cup 2026 preparation matches against Uruguay (March 27) and Japan (March 31).
Among the main new additions are the returns of Kobbie Mainoo and Harry Maguire, both from Manchester United. Also included is Milan’s centre-back Fikayo Tomori, who hasn’t been called up since October 2023. Tottenham forward Dominic Solanke is also on the list, as are midfielder James Garner (Everton) and goalkeepers Aaron Ramsdale (Newcastle) and Jason Steele (Brighton).
Conversely, despite the larger squad, Tuchel once again left out Trent Alexander=Arnold, the Real Madrid full=back, about whom the German has already expressed concerns regarding his defensive performance. Ollie Watkins, out of form at Aston Villa, is also left out.
Jude Bellingham, despite not having played since the beginning of February due to injury, was called up.
Tuchel, quoted by Sky Sports, clarified that the group will be divided into essentially two. We have a training camp where we bring in players we haven’t seen, who haven’t played much, to open the competition for tickets to the USA. From Friday/Saturday, one group will arrive at the training camp and rest. Then we’ll go with a new group of players for the game against Japan.
The list of players called up for the England national team:
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), James Trafford (Manchester City), Aaron Ramsdale (Newcastle) and Jason Steele (Brighton);
Defenders: Dan Burn (Newcastle), Marc Guéhi (Manchester City), Lewis Hall (Newcastle), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Tino Livramento (Newcastle), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Nico O’Reilly (Manchester City), Jarell Quansah (Bayer Leverkusen), Djed Spence (Tottenham), John Stones (Manchester City) and Fikayo Tomori (Milan);
Midfielders: 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) and Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace);
Forwards: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Leeds), 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) and Dominic Solanke (Tottenham).