England manager Thomas Tuchel has picked the squad for the upcoming friendlies, the last international break before World Cup, the last squad before the definitive to be announced in May. The team will stay in England, playing against Uruguay and Japan at Wembley on March 27 and March 31.
And there are some surprises, like the omission of Trent Alexander-Arnold from Real Madrid, Alex Scott from Bournemouth, and Ollie Watkins from Aston Villa. Reece James and Trevor Chalobah from Chelsea are also absent due to injury.
Among the notable surprises are Harry Maguire and Kobbie Mainoo from Manchester United, Dominic Calvert-Lewin from Leeds, returning after five years, Dominic Solanke, returning for the first time since October 2024, and for the first time since November 2018, Milan defender Fikayo Tomori.
Tuchel explained that he wanted to "bring players in that we haven't seen, who haven't played so much, to open up the picture and the competition for plane tickets to the US", and will divide the 35-man list in two camps, so in the teams may look very different between the two games.
England squad for friendlies before World Cup:
Goalkeepers:
Henderson
Pickford
Ramsdale
Steele
Trafford
Defenders:
Burn
Guehi
Hall
Konsa
Livramento
Maguire
O'Reilly
Quansah
Spence
Stones
Tomori
Midfielders:
Anderson
Bellingham
Garner
Henderson
Mainoo
Palmer
Rice
Rogers
Wharton
Forwards:
Bowen
Calvert-Lewin
Eze
Foden
Gordon
Kane
Madueke
Rashford
Saka
Solanke
What do you think of Thomas Tuchel's England squad for March 2026, the penultimate one before World Cup?