When you’re blessed with the kind of depth England has at its disposal, hard choices are inevitable. The talent pool is such that other countries can only dream of the debates going on after Thomas Tuchel named his FIFA World Cup team on Friday and left a number of big names off of his 26-man squad. The German took some big swings ahead of his first major tournament as gaffer and will either be vindicated or vilified in only a few short weeks.
Let’s take a look at a starting XI of players who won’t be flying to North America next month.
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GK - Nick Pope (Newcastle)
Look, Jordan Pickford is Tuchel’s guy just as he was Gareth Southgate’s. The Everton keeper is head and shoulders England’s No. 1 and will play every minute of their tournament, barring a catastrophe. Still, every roster needs three goalkeepers and Tuchel brought along Crystal Palace’s Dean Henderson and James Trafford of Manchester City with him.
What that means is there was no room on the plane for Nick Pope. The Toon No. 1 was on the past two World Cup squads and is unlikely to feature in another at 34 years of age. Even if he wasn’t going to play a minute, the decision is still a tough one for Pope.
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DF - Trent Alexander-Arnold (Real Madrid)
As the season progressed, it appeared more and more likely that there was going to be no seat on the plane for Trent Alexander-Arnold. Still, not seeing the former Liverpool right-back on the squad is jarring. But the signs were certainly there.
The 27-year-old Alexander-Arnold’s first season at the Bernabeu has not gone according to plan. Injuries have limited his participation to only 21 league matches, but he was fit in time for the March friendly window. When he wasn’t selected for the Uruguay and Japan matches, it became clear that Alexander-Arnold wasn’t at the top of Tuchel’s mind.
While Alexander-Arnold’s defensive failings are well-known, there are few who can offer his versatility in attack as witnessed by the way Southgate would even utilize him in the midfield. But like many at Real this season, Alexander-Arnold has trouble producing with just four assists in La Liga play. His omission is a sobering one, but far from indefensible.
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DF - Harry Maguire (Manchester United)
With names leaking ahead of Friday’s roster announcement, of those both on and off the roster, hearing that Harry Maguire did not make the team came as a surprise to nobody more than the Manchester United centre-back himself. Simply put, the 33-year-old Maguire was crushed. The thought of not being on the squad had not crossed his mind.
“I was confident I could have played a major part this summer for my country after the season I’ve had,” Maguire wrote on social media. “I’ve been left shocked and gutted by the decision. I’ve loved nothing more than putting that shirt on and representing my country over the years. I wish the players all the best this summer.”
A steadying presence on a United backline ravaged by injury, Maguire had another fine season for his club. Cruelly, this will now be a second straight major tournament that he misses after an injury sidelined him from Euro 2024. Maguire will be 37 by the time the next World Cup comes around, making his participation in another looking highly unlikely.
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DF - Fikayo Tomori (Milan)
Fikayo Tomori has been on the periphery of the national scene since his senior debut in 2019, never becoming a regular. Prior to appearing in a 1-1 draw with Uruguay in March, the 28-year-old centre-back hadn’t worn an England shirt since 2023. But that return was short-lived as Tomori, a Chelsea youth product, has been passed over by Tuchel.
Capped only six times, Tomori’s decision to represent England might be one that he comes back to every once in a while. Born in Calgary, Tomori captained Canada at the U20 level before switching allegiances. Had he remained with Canada, Tomori would undoubtedly be about to play in his second straight World Cup and likely be a first-choice option for Jesse Marsch. What could have been...
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DF - Luke Shaw (Manchester United)
The biggest knock on Luke Shaw has always been his health. The 30-year-old left-back has routinely missed time over the course of his 15-year pro career with a variety of injuries. Shaw made only seven league appearances last season for United.
So what makes Shaw’s omission so glaring is that it comes as Shaw is on the verge of appearing in every Premier League game for the first time in his career. Heading into Sunday’s finale at Brighton, Shaw has played in all 37 of the Red Devils’ contests and has been a major part in the club’s resurgence this season. In fact, there have been only 192 minutes of Premier League play where Shaw has not been on the pitch for United this season.
An England veteran who starred at both Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup, Shaw has not appeared in an England shirt since Euro 2024. That Tuchel has yet to select Shaw for any of his teams is an indictment of his fitness struggles, but it is surprising that his season did not sway the German to reconsider at all.
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MF - Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace)
At 22, Adam Wharton is one of the Premier League’s best young midfielders and already has a major tournament under his belt, having gone to Euro 2024. He clearly has a bright international future ahead of him and this summer might be a major one for him at the club level with Crystal Palace likely tempted to cash in on Wharton and sell him for a considerable amount of money. What won’t be happening for him this summer, though, is the World Cup.
Not the most athletic player on the pitch, Wharton makes up for a lack of pace with precision passing and point guard-like vision. He’s the kind of player that any team would be happy to have in their starting XI, but Tuchel preferred a similar player in Manchester United’s Kobbie Mainoo. With so many question marks about a number of his choices, Tuchel will have to account for Wharton’s absence should a midfield spark be missing next month.
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MF - Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest)
Among the more shocking absences from Tuchel’s squad was Morgan Gibbs-White. Not only had the 26-year-old Nottingham Forest midfielder appeared to have established himself as a no-brainer selection, his play merited consideration for a spot in the starting XI as the No. 10. His omission from the squad is a testament to the quality on offer in the England midfield.
Gibbs-White is the joint-top scorer among English players in the Premier League this season with 14. He was a key contributor to Forest’s run to the Europa League semis and the confidence in his game is more than evident in watching him play. On top of that, Gibbs-White has demonstrable chemistry with teammate and probable England starter, Elliot Anderson, in the Forest midfield. He seems to tick all the boxes.
But the numbers game caught up to him. Tuchel decided to take Jude Bellingham, Eberechi Eze and Morgan Rogers, all of whom can serve as a No. 10, ahead of Gibbs-White. Just as it’s difficult to make a case against Gibbs-White, it’s hard to do so against the trio Tuchel selected.
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MF - James Garner (Everton)
Like Harry Maguire, James Garner didn’t shy away from expressing his disappointment in missing out on the call from Tuchel.
“Gutted is an understatement,” Garner wrote. “Good luck to the boys!”
Friday ended up being a bittersweet day for Garner. The 25-year-old Manchester United youth product found out that he didn’t make the England team on the same day that he was named Everton’s Player of the Season. It’s easy to see why Garner claimed the honour.
Heading into Sunday’s final matchday of the campaign, Garner leads all English-born players in tackles and interceptions. He’s second in assists and third in chances created. After several seasons of flirting with relegation far too deep into the season, Everton had zero worries about the drop in 2025-2026 with Garner driving the engine and will look to firm up a finish in the top half of the table for the first time in five years.
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MF - Cole Palmer (Chelsea)
After campaigns of 22 goals and 15 goals over the past two seasons, Cole Palmer’s form has suffered in 2025-2026 and he’d be the first to admit that. With one match to play, Palmer has nine goals as Chelsea is on the precipice of missing out on European competition. Even still, his omission from Tuchel’s squad is stunning because what Palmer is capable of transcends his current form.
In explaining his roster selections, Tuchel’s criticism of Palmer was pointed.
“He was not as decisive or as influential as he was in the last seasons, throughout the whole season,” Tuchel said. “Second of all, he was not very influential with us. His record with us was just not outstanding, not good enough to make him ‘No matter what, he is coming.’ That is just the reality of it. He had to pull out injured several times, when he was in camp he did not have the impact that we all wanted to push him for.”
While the thrust of Tuchel’s critique is fair, circumstances must also be considered. Simply put, the Blues were a mess this season. Enzo Maresca’s departure was a fiasco and it was followed up by the disastrous reign of Liam Rosenior. Fan tumult is at the highest it’s been in years because there’s no indication that a steady hand is running the ship.
Surely, then, Tuchel could have been receptive to the idea that a considerably more stable environment would have nurtured Palmer and allowed him to show the kind of form that made him undroppable. Like with many others on this list, there’s still plenty of runway for Palmer’s national career at the age of 24. But having to wait four more years for another World Cup will be a cruel blow for a player who knows he has more to give.
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FW - Phil Foden (Manchester City)
Still only 25, Phil Foden has a preposterous list of accolades. He’s a six-time Premier League winner, a five-time League Cup winner, a three-time FA Cup winner and a Champions League winner. Foden has a lifetime of achievements in under a decade of pro football.
What he doesn’t have are any international honours and that won’t change this summer with his absence from the England squad. Since making his senior debut in 2020, Foden has become a fixture under Gareth Southgate and had appeared at Euro 2020, the 2022 World Cup and Euro 2024. But like with Palmer, the reason for Foden not being on the plane is twofold.
It’s been a very uneven season at City for Foden. Once a surefire inclusion in Pep Guardiola’s starting XI, Foden has found himself more along the margins this season. The form of Jeremy Doku and the arrival of Antoine Semenyo mean that the competition for minutes has been greater and Foden hasn’t passed the muster as far as Guardiola has been concerned.
And then there’s his national performance. Capped 49 times, Foden has only made six appearances for the Three Lions over the past two years. His most recent appearance came in the March draw with Uruguay. With Harry Kane not playing, Foden had the opportunity to take the initiative, but his shift was a pedestrian one with it ending a little over 10 minutes into the second half. In retrospect, it seems like that was Foden’s final audition for Tuchel and it wasn’t a bright one.
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FW - Danny Welbeck (Brighton)
Danny Welbeck at the World Cup would have been a great story and perhaps the sentiment of it overshadowed the reality of the situation. The 35-year-old Manchester United youth product has been out of the England picture for some time and the notion of a return might have been a fanciful one, even if his play certainly merits consideration.
When word broke last week that Welbeck had been included on Tuchel’s long list of 55 players, it was understandable. Welbeck has 13 Premier League goals this season, the most in his 17-year career. In fact, it marked a second straight season in which he’d set a career-best in goals. Only Morgan Gibbs-White and Dominic Calvert-Lewin have more goals (14) among English players this season.
But Welbeck’s England career appeared to be in the rear-view mirror and Tuchel seemingly concurred. While capped 42 times and having appeared at two World Cups and a Euro, Welbeck had featured in an England shirt since 2018. It doesn’t appear as if he will have the opportunity to add to his total of 16 international goals.
