England announce World Cup squad with shock omissions and surprises | OneFootball

The Three Lions will head to the World Cup with a squad missing several key players, such as Alexander-Arnold, Foden, Palmer, and Maguire. There are also several unexpected names that Tuchel decided to back.

Coach Thomas Tuchel did not hesitate when it came to drawing up England’s squad list for the 2026 World Cup. It was released early this Friday morning, to the tune of The Beatles’ Come Together, and caused a huge stir across the football world. He chose to leave out a long list of star players and historic names, while also including some surprise picks and dark horses.

Among the biggest absences are Trent Alexander-Arnold (Real Madrid), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Phil Foden (Manchester City), and Cole Palmer (Chelsea). The England squad also includes a few names that slipped in unexpectedly, such as Djed Spence (Tottenham), as well as returns that were not in the plans, as in the cases of Dean Henderson (Brentford) and Ivan Toney (Al-Alhi).

Real Madrid’s footballing crisis and the adaptation issues in his first few months ultimately worked against Alexander-Arnold, who left Liverpool less than a year ago on a high and dreamed of making history at the Bernabéu.

The French manager decided to leave him out of the final squad, as well as Maguire. It is a clear sign that a team rebuilding process is already underway and that the main goal will be the World Cup. What England did not anticipate was that the Manchester United center-back, a regular starter in the UEFA qualifiers, would find out about his exclusion indirectly. “I am shocked and devastated by the decision. I have loved nothing more than pulling on that shirt and representing my country over these years. I wish the players all the best this summer,” he wrote on his X account.

While major stars such as Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, and Eberechi Eze (Arsenal), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Marcus Rashford (Barcelona), and Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa) continue to shine on the list, other absences also stand out: Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest), Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace), Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), Fikayo Tomori (Milan), and Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal).

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.