England World Cup Squad: Foden, Palmer and Maguire Miss Out on Tuchel's Squad
Will Jackson 
Scott McGlynn
Thomas Tuchel has named his 26-man England squad for the 2026 World Cup, with the headline news a trio of high-profile omissions.
Phil Foden, Cole Palmer and Harry Maguire have all been left out as the German head coach prioritised what he described as "specialists" and a settled "brotherhood" built across the autumn international camps.
Captain Harry Kane leads a group that contains nine senior tournament debutants and a recall for Brentford midfielder Jordan Henderson, while Al-Ahli striker Ivan Toney is included despite playing just seven minutes of international football since June 2025.
England open their Group L campaign against Croatia in Dallas on 17 June, before facing Ghana in Boston on 23 June and Panama in New York on 27 June, and will be at the forefront of a lot of people's World Cup betting tips.
For our full preview of England's group, see our Group L odds in the run-up to kick-off and find the latest World Cup free bets right here.
The Full 26-Man Squad
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), James Trafford (Manchester City)
Defenders: Dan Burn (Newcastle United), Marc Guéhi (Manchester City), Reece James (Chelsea), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Tino Livramento (Newcastle United), Nico O'Reilly (Manchester City), Jarell Quansah (Bayer Leverkusen), Djed Spence (Tottenham Hotspur), John Stones (Manchester City)
Midfielders: Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Eberechi Eze (Arsenal), Jordan Henderson (Brentford), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa)
Forwards: Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Noni Madueke (Arsenal), Marcus Rashford (Barcelona, loan from Manchester United), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ivan Toney (Al-Ahli), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)
Jason Steele will travel as a training goalkeeper alongside the main squad.
The Big Omissions
Foden, Palmer and Maguire are the names dominating the post-announcement reaction. Sky Sports described the squad as "probably the most shocking since 1998", with Tuchel personally calling around 50 players on the Thursday and Friday before the announcement to break the news either way.
Maguire reacted publicly on social media, saying he was "shocked and gutted" to have been left out. The Manchester United defender had been a fixture of England squads under Gareth Southgate but did not feature in any of Tuchel's autumn camps in September, October and November - a point the head coach returned to repeatedly when explaining his selection.
The Foden and Palmer decisions are likely to be the most debated by fans, with both players capable of producing moments of magic despite neither reaching top form for club or country this season.
Tuchel had publicly cast doubt on Foden's place as early as March, after the Manchester City man struggled in the 1-0 friendly defeat to Japan at Wembley.
Tuchel's Reasoning
Speaking at his post-announcement press conference, Tuchel framed the selection around two ideas: positional balance and continuity from his autumn camps. He told reporters that taking "five No 10s" and playing some out of position was something he was not willing to do.
"It was difficult phone calls as I respect them as players and personalities," Tuchel said. "All of them deserved a call-up from this list of 55, and to reduce to 26 was painfully difficult. It was also a positional thing, not taking five No 10s and playing them out of position. Who would that help?"
The head coach also leaned heavily on the September, October and November international windows when justifying the inclusions, noting that the players who were with him through those three camps had set the standards he wanted to carry into the tournament.
"We have younger players who play with hunger and excitement," he added, calling the group "a good mix between young and old, usefulness and senior partnership."
Tuchel was clear that the omissions did not reflect badly on the players themselves, saying: "Does this mean that the other guys that you mentioned did anything wrong? No. For some of them, it's just a positional thing that we also tried to have a balance with."
The Tournament Milestones in the Squad
Kane will captain England at his third consecutive World Cup, equalling the record set by Billy Wright in 1950, 1954 and 1958. The Bayern Munich striker remains the central figure of the side and is expected to lead the line in all three group fixtures.
Pickford, Stones and Rashford will also be appearing at their third World Cup, while Jordan Henderson's selection means he will make a Three Lions' record-equalling fourth appearance in the finals - matching Sir Bobby Charlton. It will also be Henderson's seventh major tournament, equalling Lucy Bronze's all-time England record across UEFA EURO and World Cup finals appearances.
Rice, Bellingham and Saka are at their second World Cup, while a long list of EURO 2024 squad members - including Dean Henderson, Guéhi, Konsa, Mainoo, Eze, Gordon, Watkins and Toney - will be making their World Cup debuts alongside Reece James.
Nine Senior Tournament Debutants
Nine of the 26 will be making their senior international tournament bow this summer. James Trafford, Livramento, O'Reilly, Spence, Burn, Quansah, Anderson, Madueke and Rogers all featured for Tuchel during qualifying or his autumn camps and have been rewarded with a place on the plane.
Livramento, Quansah and Anderson were part of the England side that won the UEFA U21 EURO last summer, following Trafford, Gordon and Madueke who lifted the same trophy in 2023.
Dan Burn, the 33-year-old Newcastle defender, is the standout late bloomer of the group - a player who only made his senior debut under Tuchel in March 2026 and has now earned a World Cup spot.
Toney Recall the Other Big Surprise
Ivan Toney's inclusion has caught most pundits off guard, with the Al-Ahli forward's only on-pitch contribution to the current regime amounting to a seven-minute cameo in June 2025. His move to the Saudi Pro League had been viewed by many as the end of his international ambitions.
Tuchel pointed to his squad-building philosophy when defending the call, describing his selections as "specialists" within a wider group dynamic. Toney's penalty record and physical presence give the head coach an alternative profile to Kane and Watkins in the forward areas, particularly as a late-game option from the bench.
Preparation Schedule
The bulk of the squad will meet at England's pre-tournament training base in Palm Beach, Florida, from Monday 1 June. The Arsenal and Crystal Palace contingents will join up later given their involvement in the Champions League and Europa Conference League finals respectively.
Two warm-up fixtures follow before the tournament gets underway. England play New Zealand in Tampa on Saturday 6 June, before facing Costa Rica in Orlando on Wednesday 10 June, with the full squad then moving to its permanent tournament base in Kansas City on Saturday 13 June - four days before the Croatia opener.
What It Means for the Tournament
Tuchel's selection is a clear statement of intent: this is his England team, built around the players who came through his qualification campaign and autumn camps rather than the legacy figures of the Southgate era. The German signed an 18-month contract specifically tasked with delivering England's first major trophy since 1966, and the willingness to leave out Foden, Palmer and Maguire signals he is prepared to live or die by his own conviction.
England's qualifying record was emphatic - eight wins from eight without conceding a goal - and the defensive structure Tuchel has built gives them a platform few rivals can match. With Kane, Bellingham, Saka and Rice all in their prime, the question is whether Tuchel's bolder squad calls translate into the tournament football he was hired to deliver. Check the latest World Cup 2026 odds to see how the market is pricing England's chances.
For full match-by-match analysis once the tournament begins, head to our World Cup 2026 tips and predictions hub, which will cover every England fixture from the Croatia opener onwards.
