Thomas Tuchel has torn up reputations in naming his 26-man England squad for the World Cup. Phil Foden and Cole Palmer are left out, Harry Maguire and Trent Alexander-Arnold are gone, and Ivan Toney is recalled after a prolific season in Saudi Arabia. It is a selection built on current form rather than standing, and it has already drawn an angry response.

The big names left out

The headline is who is missing. Foden and Palmer, two of the most gifted attackers in the country, did not make the cut. Maguire, a fixture in England squads for years, was omitted, as was Alexander-Arnold. For a tournament squad, that is a lot of reputation to leave at home.

The club form behind the calls was not commanding. Across their recent five-match samples, Foden averaged a 7.1 rating and Palmer 6.8, solid rather than the numbers that force a manager's hand. Former England defender Phil Jagielka framed the logic plainly.

"It's not been a great season for either Phil Foden or Cole Palmer. And in that attacking area, we've got a pool of players who have outperformed them at club level," Jagielka told the Mirror. "Usually for England you get to keep your place on your name, but Thomas Tuchel wants to pick on form and chemistry, so I'm not surprised."

Maguire did not hide his reaction. "I was confident I could have played a major part this summer for my country after the season I've had. I've been left shocked and gutted by the decision," he said. His family went further, with his brother Joe calling it "possibly the worst decision I've ever seen in my life. No words." Tuchel was reported to be favouring more mobile defenders, which left little room for an old-school centre-back.

Ivan Toney's surprise recall

If the omissions set the tone, Ivan Toney is the surprise on the other side of the ledger. He returns having scored 42 goals with 11 assists in Saudi Arabia this season, the kind of output a manager picking on form could not ignore, even from a league outside Europe's traditional elite.

What makes it striking is how far he had fallen out of the picture. Toney had played just seven minutes of international football since Euro 2024, his last involvement a cameo against Senegal in June 2025, and he had not been selected since. A recall on that basis is exactly the kind of move that follows from prioritising production over recent international minutes, and it is the clearest single signal of how Tuchel is weighing his choices.

Former England forward Theo Walcott backed the thinking. "He's a speciality. He's not there on penalties alone, it shows it doesn't matter where you play," Walcott told the Independent. "There's always a debate, you have to trust the manager, he's seen what we've not seen." The point about location matters: rewarding a striker for goals scored in Saudi Arabia is precisely the sort of call previous England regimes tended to avoid.

Djed Spence and the other calls

The selection carried its own subplots. Djed Spence was included despite a broken jaw, with late fitness concerns resolved before the squad was confirmed. It is the sort of call that signals how much Tuchel rates a player, given he was willing to carry a fitness question into a tournament squad rather than reach for a safer, more familiar name.

Others around the margins, including Jarell Quansah and Jordan Henderson, filled out a group chosen on a clear principle: recent evidence over established reputation. Taken case by case, the calls are defensible. Taken together, they add up to a squad that looks noticeably different from the one a reputation-first approach would have produced.

Why Tuchel went this way

The thread running through every call is form and chemistry. Jagielka's point captures it: England squads have traditionally rewarded status, and Tuchel has chosen not to. Players in good club form were preferred to bigger names who have dipped, and a striker scoring freely abroad was preferred to attackers coasting on past performances.

That approach is a clear break from how England squads have usually been built. The default has long been that established internationals keep their places through lean spells, on the assumption that tournament pedigree counts for something. Tuchel has inverted it, treating the last few months of club football as the strongest evidence available and trusting the group he believes fits together over the one with the most household names.

There is a competitive backdrop that gives him cover. England reached the World Cup by winning all eight of their qualifying games without conceding a goal, so he is making these decisions from a position of strength rather than crisis. A manager whose team has just cruised through qualifying without shipping a goal can more easily argue that the collective, not the individual names, is what matters.

What it means for England

The risk is obvious. Leaving out players of Foden and Palmer's ceiling means Tuchel has to be right about the alternatives, and a tournament is an unforgiving place to test a theory built on form. The reward is a squad picked on who is playing well now, with Harry Kane captaining a side that arrives in good shape.

Tuchel has made his call, and the noise around the omissions will follow England into the tournament. The only answer that will settle it is results once the football starts.

FAQ

Why did Tuchel leave Foden and Palmer out of England's World Cup squad?

Tuchel picked on current form and team chemistry rather than reputation. Foden and Palmer had solid but not standout club seasons, averaging 7.1 and 6.8 in recent five-match samples, and pundits noted other attackers had outperformed them at club level. Both were left out of the 26-man squad.

Who are the surprise call-ups in England's 2026 World Cup squad?

Ivan Toney is the biggest surprise, recalled after 42 goals and 11 assists in Saudi Arabia despite playing just seven minutes of international football since Euro 2024. Djed Spence was also included despite a broken jaw, after late fitness concerns were resolved.

Is Harry Maguire in England's World Cup squad?

No. Maguire was left out, with Tuchel reported to favour more mobile defenders. Maguire said he was 'shocked and gutted', and his family criticised the decision publicly. He had expected to play a major part after his season.

Why was Ivan Toney recalled to England?

Toney earned the recall on form, scoring 42 goals with 11 assists in Saudi Arabia this season. With Tuchel prioritising production over recent international minutes, that output outweighed the fact Toney had barely featured for England since Euro 2024.

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