England confirm World Cup 2026 squad numbers in hint to Thomas Tuchel starting XI | OneFootball

Elliot Anderson and Nico O’Reilly appear to have secured starting spots this summer

England have confirmed their squad numbers for World Cup 2026.

Thomas Tuchel announced his 26-man squad for this summer’s tournament in North America on May 22, raising a few eyebrows with some of his selections.

Phil Foden, Cole Palmer and Trent Alexander-Arnold are among the high-profile players left out, along with Manchester United defender Harry Maguire.

Instead, John Stones has been named in the squad - despite limited game time for Manchester City - and, if the squad numbers are anything to go by, he will make up Tuchel’s first-choice central defensive pairing with Marc Guehi.

Partnership: Marc Guehi and John Stones

Elsewhere, while Ezri Konsa has been upgraded to No2, it is likely that Chelsea defender Reece James will start the tournament as England first-choice right-back despite taking his favoured no24 shirt number.

Newcomers, Nico O’Reilly and Elliot Anderson have taken No3 and No8 respectively, leading to plenty of speculation online that they will be in Tuchel’s preferred starting XI.

Jordan Pickford, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordan, Ollie Watkins and Eberechi Eze have all retained the same squad numbers from Euro 2024.

The Three Lions will begin preparations for the summer tournament with a friendly against New Zealand on Saturday before facing Costa Rica next Wednesday.

England’s confirmed World Cup squad numbers

1 Jordan Pickford

2 Ezri Konsa

3 Nico O'Reilly

4 Declan Rice

5 John Stones

6 Marc Guehi

7 Bukayo Saka

8 Elliot Anderson

9 Harry Kane

10 Jude Bellingham

11 Marcus Rashford

12 Tino Livramento

13 Dean Henderson

14 Jordan Henderson

15 Dan Burn

16 Kobbie Mainoo

17 Morgan Rogers

18 Anthony Gordon

19 Ollie Watkins

20 Noni Madueke

21 Eberechi Eze

22 Ivan Toney

23 James Trafford

24 Reece James

25 Djed Spence

26 Jarell Quansah