England finally get their World Cup campaign underway tonight with a clash against Croatia in Dallas.
Thomas Tuchel’s side have been installed as one of the favourites to lift the trophy in next month’s final, owing to embarrassment of riches in the Three Lions squad.
But England have also left plenty of talent back at home, with Tuchel having had the unenviable task of whittling down his options into just 26 places for the tournament.
The likes of Cole Palmer, Harry Maguire and Phil Foden are the most notable exclusions and will be watching the World Cup at home this summer like the rest of us.
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Cole Palmer
The Chelsea star’s omission from the England squad was undoubtedly the biggest shock of all and would have been unthinkable a year ago.
Tuchel has instead elected to go with Jude Bellingham, Morgan Rogers and Eberechi Eze as his options in the No10 role, whilst Noni Madueke has been preferred as Bukayo Saka’s understudy on the right wing.
Explaining his decision to leave Palmer behind, Tuchel said: ‘I think he suffers from a lack of individual form within his club.
‘He was not as decisive or as influential as he was in the last seasons, throughout the whole season. Second of all, he was not very influential with us. His record with us was just not outstanding, not good enough to make him ‘no matter what, he is coming’.
‘That is just the reality of it. He had to pull out injured several times, when he was in camp he did not have the impact that we all wanted to push him for.
‘I can find a lot of arguments to have him in the squad. I respect his quality and his very unique personality, he was never a problem in camp, I think his personality helps him, even in big moments, to not show nerves, and to be decisive.
‘But to have these moments you need also to be in shape, you need to be influential within this group and he has just failed to prove it, on a consistent level. It was one of the most difficult phone calls and obviously one of the most prominent names that we leave out, but I refuse to bring players for the name and I refuse to then play them out of position just to give them something.
‘It is a very difficult and a very hard decision. There is no question about his talent, there is no question what he can give you in special moments, but the decision was still against him.’
Harry Maguire
Maguire had enjoyed a strong season at Manchester United and was rewarded with an England recall for the friendlies against Uruguay and Japan in March.
However, Maguire’s stay in the squad was short-lived, with Marc Guehi, John Stones, Ezri Konsa, Dan Burn and Jarell Quansah selected as Tuchel’s five centre back options.
As news of his omission started to leak, Maguire took to social media to voice his displeasure at not being called up to play for England at his third World Cup.
‘I was confident I could of [sic] played a major part this summer for my country after the season I’ve had’, Maguire said on X in May.
‘I’ve loved nothing more than putting that shirt on and representing my country over the years. I wish the players all the best this summer.’
Maguire’s family added to the noise around his snub, with his wife posting: ‘Beyond devastated for you. There was nothing else you could have possibly done to prove your worth. I don’t need to tell you how admired you are, just a shame you were up against a single opinion.’
Maguire’s mum insisted she was ‘absolutely disgusted’ with the decision, while his brother labelled it a ‘shamble’ and his sister called it ‘crazy’.
Reacting to Maguire’s decision to air his grievances in public before the England squad had officially been announced, Tuchel said: ‘I was a bit surprised, but I respect his personality a lot. I respect his quality a lot. He had an outstanding season. I can see the disappointment. I can see the reason behind the disappointment.
‘Still, I was a bit surprised, because we had a private conversation in which he had the chance to express his feelings, which he did. This is fair enough, because I can see all the reasons why he could be in the squad, but the decision is that we stood firmly with our central defenders that carried us through September, October, November. Some of them are part of the leadership group that took ownership and set the standards high.’
Phil Foden
Such had been Foden’s drop-off in form for Manchester City in the second half of last season, the 26-year-old’s absence from the final squad barely registered amongst many.
Foden’s last goal in the Premier League for City came in December, with only three assists to his name since then.
Such a barren run for his club was always likely to result in Foden failing to make the cut, notwithstanding the fact that the Manchester City academy graduate has often failed to show his best form in an England shirt throughout his international career.
‘With Phil it’s a little bit different because Phil was excellent in camp for us. He was not only excellent in training, but also off training. He was open, he was in good spirits’, Tuchel said.
‘And it hurt me a lot, actually, to call him and to tell him this decision. I could see in his reaction how much it affects him, how much it would have meant for him to come.
‘But I think, like with Cole [Palmer] and especially with Phil, he lost momentum in a crucial moment of the season and basically the last half of the season, we could see glimpses here and there but not a lot of evidence.’