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Thomas Tuchel announces his 35-man England squad for final friendlies before the World Cup

England resume their countdown to the World Cup as Thomas Tuchel’s side face the test of Uruguay in the first of two friendlies this March.

Tuchel has just two more outings before he decides his squad for this summer’s tournament finals, with England facing Croatia in their opening game on 17 June in Dallas.

And with the competition for places well and truly on, Tuchel named an expanded 35-man squad for the upcoming internationals, the second being against Japan on Tuesday, meaning the England boss could well choose to field an experimental line-up at Wembley while he still can.

Tuchel has given his core group of players - including Declan Rice and Harry Kane - the first week off, so there will be opportunities to impress for the likes of Cole Palmer and Phil Foden, while there could also be a debut in the offing for Everton’s James Garner who looks to make a late impression.

And then there’s the question of who Tuchel selects at right back. The German has offered a shock recall to Arsenal’s Ben White, and a chance to “clear the air” with his team-mates following his abrupt exit from England’s camp at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The six England squad decisions awaiting Thomas Tuchel for the World Cup

Centre-back shapes as one of six key areas that Thomas Tuchel will be examining closely over the next week. Richard Jolly takes an in-depth look at each of them:

The six England squad decisions awaiting Thomas Tuchel for the World Cup

Tuchel selected a 35-man squad for the March internationals and still has a lot of thinking to do over who will make the cut this summer

Harry Latham-Coyle27 March 2026 16:00

England’s World Cup 2026 squad: Who’s on the plane, who’s almost there and who has work to do?

England have only one more camp before Thomas Tuchel names his squad for the 2026 World Cup, and plenty is still up in the air.

England dominated Group K in Uefa qualifying to book their place at next summer’s World Cup, winning all eight games without conceding a goal.

Tuchel has picked a 35-man group for this month’s friendlies against Uruguay and Japan, after which he will have just a few weeks to finalise his group to take to USA, Canada and Mexico in June.

The manager has made clear that he wants to build a squad with clearly defined roles, and two players for every position on the pitch, plus a third goalkeeper and three versatile outfield players to round out the 26. He sees his midfield comprising a No 6, a No 8 and No 10 and wants each player to know their specific role in the side.

But despite Tuchel’s attempts to create clarity, there remain major questions over the full-back positions, the composition of midfield and the plethora of wingers and No 10s to whittle down – with some big names likely to miss out.

So who will Tuchel select in his 26-man squad for the 2026 World Cup?

Lawrence Ostlere27 March 2026 15:30

The 11 players who will join England late in squad ‘split’

Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Morgan Rogers, Anthony Gordon, Elliott Anderson, Nico O’Reilly, Marc Guehi, Ezri Konsa, Dan Burn and Dean Henderson will miss England’s first friendly against Uruguay tonight, and will only join his squad ahead of the Japan game.

“These guys have played 3,500 minutes, some 4,000 minutes [this season],” Tuchel said. “More important than the pure number of minutes is some of these guys have played more minutes than the whole of last season.

“All of these players have contributed in September, October and November. They have credit with me. To give them a break mentally and physically, we will benefit from it.”