&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Thomas Tuchel names England squad for pre-World Cup friendlies; Trent, Watkins excluded")
Thomas Tuchel named his England squad for the upcoming pre-World Cup friendlies against Uruguay and Japan on Friday (Mar 20). There were two notable exclusions, with Real Madrid star Trent Alexander-Arnold missing out while Ollie Watkins was also given the cut. England will face Japan and Uruguay at Wembley Stadium in the final week of March in what will be the final international break before the 2026 FIFA World Cup starts in June in North America.
Tuchel excludes key names
In the squad announced, the England manager gave no room to the star defender who now plays in the Spanish capital. Tottenham’s Djed Spence and Newcastle United’s Tino Livramento have been given the nod in the 35-man squad. Reece James is injured and is likely to be back in the frame once fit during the World Cup.
Despite naming 10 forwards in the squad, Watkins’s omission highlights the squad as he played a crucial role as back-up to Harry Kane in Euro 2024. He, in fact, scored the winner in the semifinal against the Netherlands to book a place in the final.
Explaining his extraordinary squad selection, Tuchel said: "We decided to divide it into two camps, almost. We have a camp where we bring players in who we haven't seen, who haven't played so much, to open up the competition for plane tickets to the US.
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"From Friday/Saturday, a group will come into camp who have had a rest before. We will go with a new group of players into the match against Japan."
Full England squad list
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson, Jordan Pickford, James Trafford, Aaron Ramsdale, Jason Steele.
Defenders: Dan Burn, Marc Guehi, Lewis Hall, Ezri Konsa, Tino Livramento, Harry Maguire, Nico O'Reilly, Jarell Quansah, Djed Spence, John Stones, Fikayo Tomori.
Midfielders: Elliot Anderson, Jude Bellingham, James Garner, Jordan Henderson, Kobbie Mainoo, Declan Rice, Morgan Rogers, Adam Wharton.
Forwards: Jarrod Bowen, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Eberechi Eze, Phil Foden, Anthony Gordon, Harry Kane, Noni Madueke, Cole Palmer, Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka, Dominic Solanke.
