Ahead of England manager Thomas Tuchel’s latest squad announcement, it was widely expected he would recall the fit-again Real Madrid superstar Jude Bellingham. Manchester City’s Phil Foden and Everton loanee Jack Grealish were also touted as likely to be brought back into the fold. But Tuchel omitted all three in a sign that the German will treat all players equally, irrespective of their “star quality”.
In this article, we’ll look at Tuchel’s latest Three Lions squad for the friendly against Wales and the World Cup qualifier against Latvia. We’ll also ponder whether the strategy to pick players based on form alone could send a strong message… or possibly alienate England’s best players.
England Men’s Squad, October 2025
Your #ThreeLions for October! 🥁
— England (@England) October 3, 2025
While Tuchel couldn’t find room for Real’s Bellingham, he did bring back Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka, who missed the last England camp with a hamstring injury. After the Three Lions’ impressive 5-0 victory away against Serbia last time out, Tuchel and his coaching team clearly didn’t want to make too many changes as they selected a squad as close to the previous one as injuries would permit. Here’s the latest England squad (correct at the time of the announcement):
- Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), James Trafford (Manchester City)
- Defenders: Dan Burn (Newcastle United), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Reece James (Chelsea), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal), Jarell Quansah (Bayer Leverkusen), Djed Spence (Tottenham Hotspur), John Stones (Manchester City)
- Midfielders: Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest), Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest), Jordan Henderson (Brentford), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (AC Milan), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa)
- Forwards: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United), Eberechi Eze (Arsenal), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Marcus Rashford (Barcelona, loan from Manchester United), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)
Note that since the initial squad was announced, Manchester City’s Nico O’Reilly has been called up for the first time to replace Chelsea’s Reece James, who withdrew through injury. Jarell Quansah has also replaced Newcastle’s Tino Livramento, who is out for at least six weeks.
Can Tuchel Strike the Right Balance?
There were certainly a few eyebrows raised when Bellingham was left out, but Jordan Henderson made the grade, even though the Brentford man will turn 36 during the 2026 World Cup. But in Henderson’s defence, he’s been performing admirably in the Premier League this term and there are plenty of players who have contributed well for England into their 30s. And in terms of Bellingham, the Madrid man had surgery on his shoulder in September, so Tuchel is understandably being cautious about rushing him back, especially when his side performed so well without him.
Against Serbia on 9th September, Tuchel opted for a 4-2-3-1 formation. Harry Kane was the focal point of the attack, and he’ll remain so as long as he keeps scoring freely for Bayern Munich. The three attackers behind him for that match were Noni Madueke, who scored his first goal for England, Anthony Gordon, and Morgan Rogers. Madueke is not involved this time around due to injury. But Madueke’s Arsenal teammate Saka could slot into the gap nicely behind Kane.
Jordan Pickford played in goal, with James, Konsa, Guehi and Livramento ahead of him. They did their job very well against Serbia, keeping a clean sheet. Tuchel will need to shuffle the pack for the upcoming games due to injuries to both full-backs, but it will allow the coaching staff to assess other options.
Declan Rice, who provided two assists against Serbia, played alongside Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson as the midfield lynchpins. It worked brilliantly against Serbia, and it would be interesting to see how effective it would be against more robust opposition. Tuchel might not get the chance to play against opposition from the top drawer until the pre-World Cup friendlies. But if the Three Lions put in two more good performances, with two more victories, Tuchel will win over a lot of fans who had started to doubt him after the turgid performances at the end of last season.
Who Will Star for England at the World Cup?
Given that England are all but assured of qualifying for the World Cup, we – and indeed Tuchel and his staff – can begin to look towards the tournament in the USA, Canada and Mexico. If England are to be successful at the World Cup, they will need their biggest stars to be firing on all cylinders on the other side of the pond. Firstly, the likes of Kane and Bellingham will need to get there without any injury concerns. And if Kane, in particular, maintains his fine early-season form, he’ll be the scourge of many a defence.
Aside from Kane and Bellingham, however, we would like to see Saka really kick on and stamp his authority on the England team. He’s still only 24 years old, but he already has more than 40 caps for his country, and he could be one of the stars of the tournament if he finds his form. We also think Jack Grealish could be the wild-card option with a point to prove, which could be to England’s benefit. He’s got to get back into the squad first, but his current form suggests that’s only a matter of time, after which we expect him to put everything into proving his worth to the Three Lions.
