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Thomas Tuchel names England squad for upcoming games against Serbia and Albania

Thomas Tuchel names his latest England squad for the upcoming games against Serbia and Albania later this month.

The Three Lions get set for the final round of European Qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with a 25-man side picked for the fixtures, which kick-off at Wembley Stadium connected by EE on Thursday 13 November (7.45pm GMT) against Serbia before the Three Lions head to Tirana to play Albania on Sunday 16 November (5pm GMT).

England have already booked their place at next summer’s tournament in North America last month following their 5-0 victory over Latvia in Riga, and Tuchel will now be looking to finish with a flourish and fine-tune his team with the remaining games this year.

There’s a return to the squad for Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Adam Wharton, while Nick Pope is back among the goalkeepers.

And there’s a first senior call-up for AFC Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott, who has impressed Tuchel with his displays in the Cherries’ midfield this term having also been a key player for England MU21s during their U21 EURO success in the summer.

LATEST ENGLAND SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT:

Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Newcastle United)

Defenders: Dan Burn (Newcastle United), Marc Guéhi (Crystal Palace), Reece James (Chelsea), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Nico O’Reilly (Manchester City), Jarell Quansah (Bayer Leverkusen), Djed Spence (Tottenham Hotspur), John Stones (Manchester City)

Midfielders: Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Jordan Henderson (Brentford), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa), Alex Scott (AFC Bournemouth), Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace)

Forwards: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United), Eberechi Eze (Arsenal), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Marcus Rashford (Barcelona, loan from Manchester United), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)

From the last England squad, here’s who’s back in:

IN: Nick Pope, Nico O’Reilly, Jude Bellingham, Alex Scott, Adam Wharton and Phil Foden.

OUT: James Trafford, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Morgan Gibbs-White, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Ollie Watkins.

Latest from Sky Sports News’ Rob Dorsett: “This feels a really important squad announcement by Thomas Tuchel because including these two matches, these two World Cup qualifiers they’ve got this month, there are only four international matches before Thomas Tuchel has to name his World Cup squad.

“So the feeling we had around the camp and around, around Tuchel was that if you’re fit and playing for your club right now, but you’re not in this squad right now, it’s a long haul to make it to the World Cup squad in six months time.

“And the big headlines are Jude Bellingham in, Phil Foden in. Both of them recalled as we thought might be the case. We certainly expected Jude Bellingham to be recalled.

“And remember, that’s a significant one because he’s missed the last two England camps. He missed the one in September because he was undergoing shoulder surgery, but he was fit and playing for Real Madrid and available last month.

“But Thomas Tuchel decided to leave him out and that created an awful lot of headlines.

“Now the England head coach said he’d done that to try and keep the squad from September who’d done so well for him intact as much as possible for the meeting in October.

“No, he couldn’t use that reasoning this time and had he not included Duke Bellingham, I think it would have been a huge, huge story. But Bellingham is back. He’s absolutely flying for Real Madrid. No surprises that he’s back in.

“But it’s an equally big headline, probably an even bigger headline, that having missed the last three England camps, having not played for England since March, Phil Foden has done enough to convince Thomas Tuchel.

“He deserves a place in this England squad. And in terms of the number tens, it’s Morgan Gibbs White who misses out at the expense of Phil Foden there.

“So those are the two big headlines in. Let me tell you about everybody else because there’s a real surprise call up for Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott.

“Now, nobody was talking about him in the buildup to this international camp. He’s in the international set up with Thomas Tuchel for the first time.

“And so is Adam Wharton. ow there’s been a huge clamour for Wharton to be involved. Tuchel has talked about how much he admires him, but he’s never picked him. He’s never selected him, even when he’s been fit.

“So technically with Elliot Anderson keeping his place in the squad, that’s three pretty young defensive midfield options that Thomas Tukla has got in this camp.

“You get the feeling he’s going to look at all three of them. And then in terms of the other players that are out, a big surprise at left-back, have to say, Miles Lewis Skelly, who’s been a feature of England under Thomas Tuchel, misses out.

“He’s not playing an awful lot for Arsenal, of course. He’s missed out to two other players at Arsenal. He’s only been coming off the bench as he did in the Champions League in midweek. He’s just not playing enough football. I think you have to say, for Thomas Tuchel to be convinced that he’s worthy of a place in the England squad right now.

“Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who’s had limited England time, but been involved in the last couple of camps, he misses out as well in favour of Alex Scott and Adam Wharton that we’ve just mentioned in the midfield.

“And all that talk about Denny Welbeck in the build up to this and might he be included? I told you I suspected he might not be. No, there’s no Danny Welbeck who turns 35 later this month. It’s not a recall for him after seven years out from the England setup.

England boss Thomas Tuchel:

“We are delighted they are back. The contribution of both of them to their clubs lately was immense. They score regularly decisive goals. We’re delighted they’re in shape, in form and back with us.

“Jude comes back in the No10 position. I think that’s his best position. One of his key strengths is to score from this position, he scores goals a No9 could score – tap-ins in the six-yard box. They seem easy goals but to arrive in this position at the right moment is a key strength. We will try to find space for him as a No10 to arrive in the No9 positions to score for us.

“Phil, where he played against Dortmund, is where I see him. Close to the opponents box, a mix between a No9 and No10. Phil scores from the 18-yard box, he’s on the half-turn then assists, he’s in the pockets. The main thing for Phil is he gets a role in the central part of the pitch. I don’t see him as a winger. A central role brings out his strengths the most. He will contribute as a 9.5 10.5, very fluid.”

On Wharton and Scott selections: 

“Two different profiles. Adam, we tried for the third time to call him up! I hope he stays fit and is able to come. One was concussion and the next was groin problems holding him back.

“Elliot did very well for us but he suffers a bit, he plays through pain and discomfort. Nothing major but we are aware of that.

“We added Adam to the team because he deserves [the call] but also we need to learn baout him and what he can bring to our squad. We prepare ourselves if Elliot is not able to play 90 minutes.

“Don’t forget Jordan Henderson please. Both did very well.

“Alex deserves to be with us. I first closely saw him in the Euros with the U21s, he did excellently with Elliot in midfield and since then he has stepped up and is a regular starter for Bournemouth who are overperforming in the league.

“He performed his way into this nomination and will come in as a No 8.”

On the players:

“The players know which position we plan with them. It will never hold us back to change in matches or react to training performances or slight injuries. They know where they’re competing and where they need to perform and who they need to outperform to be in the squad.”

On Lewis-Skelly:

England boss Thomas Tuchel speaking in his press conference:

“Myles [Lewis-Skelly] was a good teammate and played for us in the last camp, so was [Ruben] Loftus-Cheek, [Morgan] Gibbs-White and [James] Trafford.

“It is about competition and performance. The door is always open for guys who perform on a regular and high level.

“Myles, Ruben and Morgan got outperformed by Nico [O’Reilly], Alex Scott, Nick Pope and Jude [Bellingham].

“Myles simply needs more starts and more minutes. We selected him last camp despite his position at Arsenal.”

On Bellingham:

“That was the decision for the last camp. And he accepted the decision. He did what he does best, he competing on the highest level and shows he deserves and has to be in the squad

“I will not reveal my confidential and private conversations with players but it’s not a surprise for him to compete for us in the No10 position. He knows from me and sees himself as a No10

“His key strengths from No10 is to find No9 positions and he has this  hunger and determination to score. This is what we see for Real Madrid and hopefully what we see next week for us.

“Amazing reaction performance-wise. There are a lot of things going on and we are always here to help and support.

“He is still young. It feels sometimes he is 26 or 28 but he is young and has our full support.”

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