Manchester United duo Harry Maguire and Kobbie Mainoo have been recalled to the England setup but Trent Alexander-Arnold is left out as Thomas Tuchel named a mammoth 35-man squad for upcoming friendlies against Uruguay and Japan at Wembley.
Neither Maguire nor Mainoo have previously been selected by Tuchel before with both last appearing for England in a 2-0 win over Republic of Ireland under interim boss Lee Carsley in September 2024.
Newcastle defender Lewis Hall is included and there is a debut call up for Everton midfielder James Garner with Tuchel selecting 10 players more than he did in November as he looks to assess a wider group in the final international break before naming his World Cup squad in May.
Despite the expanded list and an injury to Chelsea’s Reece James, Real Madrid defender Alexander-Arnold missed out, as did Aston Villa forward Ollie Watkins. Instead, Leeds forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin was selected for the first time since September 2021 alongside Tottenham’s Dominic Solanke, while Jude Bellingham is part of the group despite not playing since February 1 due to a hamstring injury.
Explaining the decision to select such a large group, Tuchel said: “We decided to divide it into basically two camps almost. We bring players in that we haven’t seen so far and haven’t played much to open up the picture, to open up the competition for plane tickets to the U.S.
“And then from Friday/Saturday, a group will come into camp — 10 or 11 players — who get a rest before — and we will go with a new group of players, a new mix of players into the match against Japan.”
Recalls for Maguire and Mainoo are in part recognition for United’s dramatic upturn in form since the departure of Ruben Amorim in January.
Since Michael Carrick took charge, United have won seven of their nine matches with Maguire and Mainoo starting in all of them.
Chelsea’s Trevoh Chalobah and Bournemouth’s Alex Scott were selected by Tuchel for England’s last camp in November but were dropped this time while the Football Assocation confirmed Brighton goalkeeper Jason Steele, 35, is selected “with the prospect of him joining the World Cup squad as a training goalkeeper during the summer.”
England squad for friendlies against Uruguay and Japan
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), James Trafford (Manchester City), Aaron Ramsdale (Newcastle United), Jason Steele (Brighton & Hove Albion)
Defenders: Dan Burn (Newcastle United), Marc Guéhi (Crystal Palace), Lewis Hall (Newcastle United), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Tino Livramento (Newcastle United), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Nico O’Reilly (Manchester City), Jarell Quansah (Bayer Leverkusen), Djed Spence (Tottenham Hotspur), John Stones (Manchester City), Fikayo Tomori (AC Milan)
Midfielders: Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), James Garner (Everton), Jordan Henderson (Brentford), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa), Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace)
Forwards: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Leeds United), Eberechi Eze (Arsenal), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Noni Madueke (Arsenal), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Marcus Rashford (Barcelona, loan from Manchester United), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Dominic Solanke (Tottenham Hotspur)
