Foden, Palmer and Maguire left out of England World Cup squad but Toney is in

Thomas Tuchel has made a series of shock calls with England’s squad for the World Cup, finding no space for Phil Foden and Cole Palmer, leaving out a “shocked and gutted” Harry Maguire and handing a surprise recall to Ivan Toney. Tuchel is set to name his 26-man party for this summer’s finals at Wembley on Friday morning and he spent much of Thursday evening calling players to let them know if they were in his plans. Maguire was the first to go public about being left out, with the defender taki

Foden and Palmer have had underwhelming seasons for Manchester City and Chelsea respectively and their struggles meant they fell behind the other No 10s at Tuchel’s disposal. Morgan Gibbs-White, who has enjoyed a strong end to the season with Nottingham Forest, is also likely to miss out. Tuchel has been bold with his selections and nothing is more striking than his decision to turn to Toney for the first time in 12 months. The former Brentford striker, who now plays for Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, was part of England’s squad at Euro 2024 but has not made an international appearance since coming on as a substitute in the friendly defeat by Senegal last June. It had been unclear whether Tuchel would decide to pick a conventional striker to provide cover for Harry Kane. In the event he is expected to have three strikers on the plane when England head to Florida for their pre-tournament training game on Monday week, with Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins expected to compete with Toney for minutes behind Kane. Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Dominic Solanke and Danny Welbeck have not done enough. Ivan Toney has not played for England since last June’s defeat by Senegal. Foden, who has been to the past three tournaments, has not been a regular for City this season and has struggled to produce his best form for England. His omission raises major doubts over his international future but does not come as a surprise. There was more optimism around Palmer, who scored when England lost to Spain in the Euro 2024 final. Yet the 24-year-old has had an injury-hit season and did not impress against Japan in March.

Key points

• Foden and Palmer have had underwhelming seasons for Manchester City and Chelsea respectively and their struggles meant they fell behind the other No 10s at Tuchel’s disposal.
• Morgan Gibbs-White, who has enjoyed a strong end to the season with Nottingham Forest, is also likely to miss out.
• Tuchel has been bold with his selections and nothing is more striking than his decision to turn to Toney for the first time in 12 months.
• The former Brentford striker, who now plays for Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, was part of England’s squad at Euro 2024 but has not made an international appearance since coming on as a substitute in the…
• It had been unclear whether Tuchel would decide to pick a conventional striker to provide cover for Harry Kane.