England squad for pre-World Cup friendlies: Kobbie Mainoo, Harry Maguire recalled

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 the 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 Feb. 1 due to a hamstring injury.

Tuchel said: “I think it is a moment to acknowledge the March camp is a bit of a unique camp itself. The reality is that we are qualified. That means we have two friendly matches. The reality is that our players are in a crucial moment in their club football season. They fight for titles, they fight for a relegation battle, they are involved in knockout matches or cup matches.

“It is a crucial and stressful moment of the season but it is also our last camp, the last opportunity to impress and compete for their ticket. It is a bit of mix of motives and headlines.”

Tuchel explained how he will manage the 35-man group: “To get the best out of this camp, we decided to split it into two. Which means we invite 19 outfield players and four goalkeepers into the first part of the camp, until the match against Uruguay, to give these players a real chance to impress, to compete for minutes against Uruguay and then also compete for their ticket to the World Cup.

“From Friday evening/Saturday morning, 11 players will join us in camp and we will then release some players to have a group of 21, 22 outfield players plus goalkeepers to prepare professionally and with full focus for the Japan match.”

Tuchel then went on to list the 11 players who will join up in the second half of the camp. He said: “It is Dean Henderson, Dan Burn, Marc Guehi, Ezri Konsa, Nico O’Reilly, Eliot Anderson, Declan Rice, Morgan Rogers, Anthony Gordon, Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka.

“All of these guys have played 3,500+ minutes, some of them 4,000 minutes. More important than the pure number of minutes, some of these guys have played more minutes than the whole of last season and there is still a lot of football to play. All of these players have contributed in September, October, November, so they have a bit of credit with me.

“We think to give them a break mentally and physically, we will benefit from it. They will come with hunger. Once they come, the headline changes a bit of camp from the competition for minutes — which will still be on — but it is more about reconnected the group, reconnecting our standards and to out level. It is about the expectation and that’s why we gave these players the chance to join us later.”

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.

“It is just to acknowledge the achievement of Man United as a team,” Tuchel said. “They have an outstanding run since Michael Carrick is in charge and Harry and Kobbie are a big part of that. It is the last camp before the U.S., it is the last chance also for me to get to know new players. Kobbie is one of them.

“Harry is not a new player in an England shirt but new to me in a camp. I want to see them around camp, feel them on the pitch, see what they are capable of and learn about them to make a clear decision in May.”

Tuchel said about the overlooked Alexander-Arnold: “I know that it is a tough decision from Trent as it is for Ollie Watkins and for Luke Shaw. These tough decisions come with the job. It is a sporting decision that we stick with Jarrell Quansah, Tino Livramento and Djed Spence who can all play for us in camp on the right full-back.

“He is a huge talent with a big career but I feel I know what Trent can give us and decided still to stick to the players in camp with us. [The other right-backs offer] a slightly different profile I would say but it is more the evidence we were very good in September, October, November than anything that Trent cannot offer.

“I played many times against him and suffered when he played against my teams with Liverpool. I know very well about his strengths and what he can give. But at the moment, we have evidence how good we were and the players who are in camp that I mentioned for right full-back, they have to push for their ticket and show again they deserve this spot.”

He said about the strikers: “It is a decision for Solanke and Calvert-Lewin who I don’t know as well as Ollie Watkins. I have a very clear picture of what Ollie can give us — I saw him in tournaments, I saw him in qualifying football — so I want to look at two other players to get a clear picture.”

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)