Why Thomas Tuchel decided not to include Phil Foden in England’s World Cup team
Thomas Tuchel has shared why Phil Foden didn’t make the final England World Cup squad. With the tournament starting in less than three weeks, Tuchel has named his 26 players for the big event.
As this is Tuchel’s first major tournament in charge of England, there were a few surprises—like Tottenham’s defender Djed Spence and Al Ahli’s striker Ivan Toney making the team. But with these surprises, some well-known players didn’t make the cut.
One of those players is Manchester City’s Phil Foden. After a tough season where he scored just 10 goals in 49 games, he was left out. Before the squad was announced, it seemed Tuchel didn’t think Foden fit into his plans—and now we know why.
According to The Sun, Tuchel wanted players with the right mindset for tournament football. He felt Foden didn’t quite match that. Instead, Tuchel picked Morgan Rogers, Jude Bellingham, and Eberechi Eze as attacking midfielders. The forwards chosen include Harry Kane, Toney, Ollie Watkins, Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke, Marcus Rashford, and Anthony Gordon.
Besides Foden, some other big names like Manchester United’s Harry Maguire, Chelsea’s Cole Palmer, Newcastle’s Lewis Hall, and Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White were also left out.
After naming his squad, Tuchel talked about how hard it was to make these decisions and inform players they weren’t picked. “It was tough calls. I respect all of them. They’ve been great players and personalities in camp,” he said. “Cutting down the squad was painful. I called everyone who was with us in camp at least once. Many truly deserved to be here.”
He added: “We looked at the evidence from September to November. The group then had very few changes in November and brought fresh energy with a good mix of young and experienced players. We want to bring back that spirit, so we relied on the group from those camps.”
Tuchel also explained that some decisions were about positions: “We couldn’t pick five players all for the same role and ask them to play out of position.”