Thomas Tuchel has made the boldest squad decision by any England manager in a generation. Phil Foden and Cole Palmer, two players who were supposed to define the next decade of English football, will not be going to the 2026 World Cup. The announcement on Friday morning confirmed what had been rumored for weeks: Tuchel picked form over fame, and two of the most talented attackers in the country paid the price.
This is not a story about injuries or off-field problems. This is a story about performance, timing, and the brutal mathematics of squad selection. Tuchel had 26 spots and too many candidates. Someone had to miss out. That it happened to be Foden and Palmer tells you everything about how far their seasons have deteriorated and how high the bar now sits for an England place.
The Biggest Call of Tuchel's Reign
When Tuchel took the England job, he inherited a squad brimming with attacking talent. The number 10 position alone had five or six genuine candidates, each capable of starting for most teams in world football. The assumption was that Tuchel would find a way to fit his best players into the system. Instead, he did the opposite. He defined his system first and then picked the players who best fit it.
The decision to omit both Foden and Palmer from the 26-man squad was not made overnight. Tuchel had been tracking their club form for months, and the data made for grim reading. Neither player had produced the consistency required to justify a place in a squad where every spot carries enormous opportunity cost. Pick Foden, and you leave out someone who has been performing at a higher level all season. Pick Palmer, and you sacrifice a player who offers more in the specific role Tuchel wants to fill.
The message from Tuchel is clear and it is one England players have rarely heard: reputation does not guarantee selection. Past PFA awards, previous tournament appearances, social media followings, none of it matters if your current output does not meet the standard. It is a philosophy that will resonate with fans who have watched England squads picked on sentiment in the past.
Why Foden and Palmer Missed Out
Their stories are different but the conclusion is the same. Both were victims of a perfect storm: poor personal form combined with fierce competition for their positions.
For Palmer, the decline has been relative rather than absolute. He scored 37 Premier League goals across his first two seasons at Chelsea, establishing himself as one of the most dangerous attackers in the league. But this season, the numbers dropped. Nine goals in 25 Premier League appearances is not a disaster in isolation, but it represents a significant fall from the standards he set himself. More importantly, the eye test confirmed what the statistics suggested. The zip was gone. The moments of individual brilliance that had defined his game were fewer and further between.
Foden's decline has been steeper and more prolonged. His 2023-24 season, when he scored 19 Premier League goals and won the PFA Player of the Year award, feels like a different career. This season started with a brief flurry of six goals in five games before Christmas, but since then he has not scored. Zero goals in the second half of the season from a player who was once the most dangerous attacker in English football is a staggering fall.
The critical moment may have come in March. Tuchel gave Foden a chance to stake his claim in the friendly against Uruguay, deploying him in the number 10 role with Harry Kane left out. Foden drifted through the match, dropping deep to collect the ball, failing to make any impact in the final third. He was substituted 11 minutes into the second half. The experiment failed, and Tuchel had seen enough.
Cole Palmer: From Hero to Omitted in Two Years
It is worth revisiting how quickly this has happened. Palmer was the story of Euro 2024. He could not get a start under Gareth Southgate, a decision that became a running criticism of England's cautious approach. When Palmer finally came on against Spain in the final, he equalized within three minutes. It was a vindication for everyone who had demanded his inclusion and a condemnation of Southgate's reluctance.
After that tournament, Palmer was named England's men's player of the year and the PFA young player of the year. He stood on stage at the Manchester Opera House collecting awards alongside Foden, who won the senior PFA prize. They were the present and the future of English football, and no one questioned it.
But tournaments are won by players who arrive in form, not players who were in form two years ago. Tuchel's job is not to reward past achievements. His job is to select the 26 players most likely to help England win the World Cup this summer. In that context, Palmer's omission, while shocking on paper, is defensible on the evidence of the past nine months.
Foden's Season of Disappearances
If Palmer's decline was gradual, Foden's has been more puzzling. There have been flashes of the old brilliance, the backheel assist against Crystal Palace earlier in May being a prime example, but they have been exceptions rather than the rule. For long stretches of the season, Foden has been a peripheral figure in a Manchester City side that has itself underperformed.
The contrast with his 2023-24 campaign is stark. That season, Foden was arguably the best player in the Premier League. He scored 27 goals in all competitions, dictated games from the number 10 position, and looked every bit the generational talent that Manchester City had nurtured since he was a child. The drop-off since then has been one of the most baffling individual stories of the 2025-26 season.
Some of it may be contextual. City have been a weaker team this season, struggling for consistency after years of dominance. The tactical system has shifted, the pressing intensity has dropped, and the supply lines that fed Foden so consistently have dried up. But great players find ways to influence games regardless of context, and Foden has not done that often enough.
Who Made the Cut in Attack
The players who have taken Foden and Palmer's spots offer a window into what Tuchel values. Eberechi Eze is in, rewarded for an outstanding season at Arsenal where he has been one of the most creative midfielders in the Premier League. His ability to receive the ball under pressure, turn and play forward fits exactly what Tuchel wants from his number 10.
Ollie Watkins has been selected after helping Aston Villa win the Europa League on Wednesday, providing Tuchel with a different striking option alongside Harry Kane. Ivan Toney's inclusion is perhaps the most eye-catching: 32 goals in 32 games for Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia is a phenomenal return, even accounting for the lower quality of that league. Tuchel clearly values Toney's physicality and finishing as a Plan B.
Noni Madueke has made the cut from Arsenal's title-winning squad, joining Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice as confirmed selections. Madueke's pace and directness give Tuchel an outlet on the right flank who can stretch defenses in a way that more technical number 10s cannot.
Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton has missed out, while Manchester United's Kobbie Mainoo keeps his place after earning a recall in the previous international break. Brentford's Jordan Henderson, a Tuchel favorite, is also expected to be included despite playing outside the traditional elite.
Maguire, Shaw and the Defensive Surprises
The shocks extend beyond the attacking positions. Harry Maguire confirmed on Instagram that he has been left out, expressing shock and gut feelings about the decision. His mother Zoe posted that she was disgusted by the call. Maguire, 33, believed his experience and recent form at Manchester United warranted inclusion, but Tuchel clearly disagrees.
Luke Shaw's omission is arguably more surprising. The Manchester United left-back had a strong season and was named in Tuchel's 55-man provisional squad. There had been significant public support for his inclusion. But Newcastle's Dan Burn and Manchester City's Nico O'Reilly are set to get the call instead, suggesting Tuchel prioritized specific physical and tactical profiles over Shaw's experience.
Tottenham's Djed Spence is the surprise inclusion in defense. The 25-year-old suffered a broken jaw in Tottenham's 2-1 defeat by Chelsea on Tuesday but is expected to wear a protective mask. His selection means no place for Real Madrid's Trent Alexander-Arnold, Arsenal's Myles Lewis-Skelly, or Everton's James Garner.
The omissions of Maguire, Tomori and Colwill mean John Stones is very likely to be included despite an injury-disrupted campaign. Tuchel views Stones as a key player when fit, and his ball-playing ability from the back is central to how England want to build play.
Tuchel's Number 10 Competition Explained
The number 10 position has been the most contested in this squad. Tuchel's system uses a single number 10 behind a central striker, which means only one player can start there. The candidates included Foden, Palmer, Eze, Maddison, Gibbs-White, and several others. All of them have legitimate claims. The problem is arithmetic: you cannot take all of them.
Morgan Gibbs-White's omission is particularly harsh. The Nottingham Forest midfielder was the top-scoring English player in the Premier League this season with 14 goals, level with Watkins and Calvert-Lewin. By any objective measure, he deserved consideration. But Tuchel appears to have concluded that Gibbs-White's profile overlaps with other players he prefers, and in a 26-man squad, redundancy is a luxury you cannot afford.
The selection of Eze over both Foden and Palmer is telling. Eze offers something slightly different: more direct carrying of the ball, more willingness to run at defenders in tight spaces, and a higher defensive work rate. In Tuchel's system, the number 10 needs to contribute to pressing and ball recovery, not just creativity. Eze's all-round game gave him the edge.
What This Means for England's World Cup
Tuchel is building a squad based on current form, tactical fit and physical readiness. The omission of Foden and Palmer sends a message to every player in the squad: no one's place is safe. That can be a powerful motivator or it can create anxiety. How the selected players respond to knowing they are one bad performance from being replaced will shape England's tournament.
The attacking options Tuchel has chosen suggest a more direct, physically imposing England team than recent iterations. With Kane as the focal point, Watkins and Toney as alternatives, and Eze as the creative hub, England have a clear identity. The question is whether they have enough game-changing talent on the bench when Plan A is not working.
The World Cup kicks off on 11 June across the United States, Mexico and Canada. England are among the favorites, but so are France, Brazil, Argentina and Spain. Tuchel's bold selections will be judged by results, not by the names on the squad list.
Reactions and Fallout
The reaction has been swift and divided. Social media is split between those who praise Tuchel for making tough decisions and those who cannot fathom leaving two of England's most talented players at home. Former players and pundits have weighed in on both sides.
The reality is that this decision will be judged retroactively. If England win the World Cup, Tuchel will be hailed as a genius who made the hard calls. If they struggle in front of goal, the omission of Foden and Palmer will be the narrative that haunts the entire campaign. That is the nature of tournament football and it is the risk Tuchel has chosen to take.
For Foden and Palmer, this is a career-defining setback. Both players are young enough to feature in future tournaments, but the path back to the England squad starts with their club form next season. Foden needs to rediscover the scoring touch that made him the best player in the country. Palmer needs to show that this season was a blip, not the beginning of a decline. Neither player is finished at this level. But both have been given a wake-up call that talent alone is not enough.
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