Thomas Tuchel Announces England’s World Cup Squad England’s World Cup campaign hasn’t even kicked off, and Thomas Tuchel has already detonated the first bomb: a star-studded cull that leaves some of the Premier League’s biggest names watching from home.

The announcement

On May 22, Tuchel named his 26-man squad for the tournament in the USA, Canada, and Mexico, confirming the end of months of speculation over who would make the plane. The list, however, was anything but conventional.

Serbian outlet Telegraf blasted the decision as a “shocking England list for the World Cup,” declaring that Tuchel had “crossed out” stars worth some 300 million euros. The message was clear: reputation and market value were no longer enough.

The shock omissions

Within hours, attention turned to the absentees. As Politika’s sports desk summed it up in its headline, there is “no Palmer, Alexander-Arnold, Foden, Maguire…” on Tuchel’s sheet.

Phil Foden and Cole Palmer, two of England’s most creative attacking talents, were left out despite stellar club seasons. Real Madrid’s Trent Alexander-Arnold, expected by many to be a lock at right-back or in midfield, is also missing, as is veteran centre-back Harry Maguire, who was described as “shocked and broken” by the decision.

British media, cited in the same report, argued that “great injustice was done” to Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White, another in-form omission.

The surprises and Tuchel’s bet

If the cuts were ruthless, the inclusions were equally revealing. Brentford’s Ivan Toney, now at Al Ahli and with just seven national-team minutes since Euro 2024, is labelled a “surprising name on the list,” according to Sky Sports via Politika.

England’s group—Croatia, Ghana, and Panama—looks manageable on paper, but Tuchel has turned a safe selection into a high-wire act. Between the “shocking” omissions and bold recalls, this World Cup will be judged as much on his gamble as on his game plan.