England name former Scotland call up in World Cup squad as notable stars miss out

But Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson will be donning an England shirt at this summer’s tournament after being named in Thomas Tuchel’s 26-man squad.

Anderson was capped by Scotland from Under 16s to Under 21s and received his first call up to Steve Clarke’s senior squad in September 2023.

“He had a little think about choosing between Scotland and England,” Clarke stated at the time. “We had some good discussions with the boy and his family and he has chosen to come with us, which is good for us now and certainly good for us in the future.”

Anderson trained with the Scotland squad but then withdrew from the camp citing an injury before later pledging allegiance to England, turning out for the Under 21s before going on to earn seven caps for the senior Three Lions side.

While Anderson has booked his seat on the plane, another player who had been courted by Scotland will have to watch the World Cup from home. Newcastle forward Harvey Barnes was approached by Clarke earlier this year over a potential switch of allegiance but turned down the opportunity to focus on making the England squad.

Other star names have also been overlooked by Tuchel with Phil Foden, Cole Palmer, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Harry Maguire all snubbed by the German head coach as Sir Gareth Southgate’s successor made an eye-catching first tournament selection.

Ollie Watkins and, most surprisingly, Ivan Toney earned recalls, but it is England’s World Cup absentees and the leaks on the eve of Friday’s announcement that provide the biggest talking points.

Furious Maguire took to social media to say he was “shocked and gutted” to miss out on a squad Tuchel told players about on Thursday, with the steady creep of information allowing onlookers to piece together the squad in advance.

Foden and Palmer were the most high-profile absentees but have had below-par club campaigns with Manchester City and Chelsea respectively, plus face tough competition in their area of the field.

Real Madrid right-back Alexander-Arnold was another bold omission, albeit a more predictable one having not won a cap since last summer.

Speaking of the overlooked players, manager Tuchel said: “(They were) difficult phone calls because I respect all of them. I respect them as players, as personalities.

“All of them have been in camp with us, all of them have been excellent, a lot of them deserved a call up from this (initial) list of 55. To reduce it was difficult, sometimes painfully difficult. Even in the phone calls, I felt the emotion.

“I called all players that were in camp with us at least one time. I wanted to show at least the appreciation and the respect for what they have done.”

Watkins and Toney make a return as back-ups to England captain Harry Kane having fulfilled that role successfully at Euro 2024.

The former has scored 10 times for Aston Villa since being left out of March’s meet up and the latter’s freescoring spell in Saudi Arabia with Al-Ahli has led to a surprising return.

Tuchel has only called-up Toney once since taking charge, with his only cap coming as an 88th-minute substitute in last June’s friendly defeat to Senegal.

Tino Livramento has been selected despite missing the past month with a thigh issue, while similarly versatile full-back Djed Spence has been included despite reportedly breaking his jaw on Tuesday.

England kick-off Group L against Croatia in Dallas on June 17, before playing Ghana on June 23 and Panama on June 27.

England’s 26-man World Cup squad:

Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton) and James Trafford (Manchester City)

Defenders: Dan Burn (Newcastle), Marc Guehi (Manchester City), Reece James (Chelsea), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Tino Livramento (Newcastle), Nico O’Reilly (Manchester City), Jarell Quansah (Bayer Leverkusen), Djed Spence (Tottenham) and John Stones (Manchester City).

Midfielders: Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Eberechi Eze (Arsenal), Jordan Henderson (Brentford), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Declan Rice (Arsenal) and Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa)

Forwards: Anthony Gordon (Newcastle), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Noni Madueke (Arsenal), Marcus Rashford (Barcelona, on loan from Manchester United), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ivan Toney (Al-Ahli) and Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa).