Here’s why Thomas Tuchel chose not to play Kobbie Mainoo for England at the World Cup, with some new details coming to light.
The mystery around why Kobbie Mainoo didn’t get much game time at the World Cup is starting to make more sense, thanks to some new info from England’s training camp.
Mainoo, who was one of Manchester United’s best players toward the end of the 2025-26 season, got lots of praise from Thomas Tuchel before the tournament. After being called back to England’s 35-man squad for friendlies against Uruguay and Japan in March, Tuchel said Mainoo had played a “big part” in United’s amazing run since Michael Carrick took over.
Two months later, Mainoo made it into the 26-man World Cup squad, and many thought he’d play alongside Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson. With Rice still dealing with fitness problems, it seemed likely Mainoo would get a chance against Ghana on June 23. He trained with Anderson and, according to the Daily Mail, many thought he would play in the second group game. But Tuchel chose to start with Rice instead.
The report says Tuchel wasn’t happy with what he saw from Mainoo in training. It also says Mainoo got more and more frustrated during the tournament, often being “the first player to leave the stadium after games, alone and with headphones on.”
Before this, former Manchester United coach Ruben Amorim had also said Mainoo wasn’t giving his best in training. Another report from The Athletic said some people felt Mainoo just “hadn’t done enough” to win over Tuchel, who picked Reece James in midfield when Rice was injured.
Interestingly, a source close to the England camp told The Athletic that Mainoo had actually trained well over the summer.
READ MORE: England players were left ‘shocked’ by Thomas Tuchel decision vs Argentina as bombshell report emerges
After England’s semi-final loss to Argentina, Gary Neville talked about why Mainoo didn’t get more minutes.
“Honestly, we were completely exhausted,” Neville said on The Overlap’s YouTube channel. “We couldn’t get out of our own half. The midfield players had no energy and were dropping back because their legs were gone. All three of them were exhausted.
“Look at Declan—he’s been off since the start. That’s a major problem. He didn’t have the speed or energy to get to the ball, and he’s usually fantastic at that.
“Kobbie Mainoo would be asking questions right now, wouldn’t he? You’d want answers if you didn’t get on at all because he can handle the ball well too.”