Thomas Tuchel's Bold England World Cup Squad Decisions

Thomas Tuchel has named his England squad for this summer’s World Cup – and the headline is not who’s in, but who’s been left at home.

Phil Foden, Cole Palmer and Morgan Gibbs-White, three of the most inventive English attackers of their generation, are all missing from the final list. They are not alone. Harry Maguire, Trent Alexander-Arnold, James Garner, Luke Shaw and Adam Wharton also miss out, stripping the group of some of its most established names and leaving Tuchel with a squad that looks younger, leaner and far more pointed towards his own ideas.

England open their campaign on June 17 against Croatia, a fixture that still carries the echo of past tournament scars. Ghana and Panama follow in the group, a mix of technical nous, physical power and awkward unpredictability. Tuchel has chosen to face that challenge without several of the Premier League’s most recognisable faces.

The omissions of Foden and Palmer will sting. Both have lit up domestic football, both seemed nailed on in most predicted squads. Gibbs-White, too, had pushed himself into the conversation with his creative influence and work rate. Leaving all three behind is not a tweak. It is a statement.

It also clears space for a gamble.

The most eye-catching inclusion is Ivan Toney. The striker has pulled on an England shirt only once since 2024 and now plies his trade in the Saudi Pro League with Al-Ahli. Tuchel has still backed him. In tournament football, a ruthless penalty taker and a centre-forward who relishes physical duels can tilt tight games, and Toney offers exactly that profile. Form, league, noise around him – Tuchel has looked past it and picked the finisher.

If the attack feels like a calculated risk, the midfield looks like the bedrock on which this squad is built.

Declan Rice anchors the group, the reliable constant around whom everything else can move. Alongside him, Elliot Anderson, Morgan Rogers and Kobbie Mainoo arrive off strong seasons, each bringing something different: Anderson’s energy and edge between the lines, Rogers’ drive and versatility, Mainoo’s calm on the ball and maturity beyond his years. It is a unit that suggests Tuchel wants control of games, not chaos, and believes he can get it through legs, intelligence and bravery in possession.

The absence of Maguire and Shaw strips away familiar defensive pillars, while Alexander-Arnold’s creativity from deep will be missed in any system. Yet those calls underline a theme: no selection by reputation, no safety net of past tournaments. Tuchel has chosen the players he believes fit his plan for a month that will define his early tenure.

England will walk out against Croatia with a squad that looks different, feels different and will play different. The question now is simple: has Tuchel been bold enough to change England’s story, or just bold enough to be remembered for the risk?