Thomas Tuchel has submitted his provisional England squad for the World Cup, with Luke Shaw, Danny Welbeck and Alex Scott believed to be among the players named.
It is understood that Real Madrid defender, Trent Alexander-Arnold, has also made the preliminary list.
World football’s governing body FIFA, permitted participating nations to submit a long list of 55 players for the tournament, which starts on 11 June, by midnight on Monday.
Tuchel will now work towards reducing the group to a final squad of 26 players for the tournament in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
There has been no official communication of the provisional squad from the Football Association (FA), with the governing body set to release England’s final list on Friday, 22 May.
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Alexander-Arnold, Shaw, Welbeck and Scott were all left out of Tuchel’s previous squad for the friendlies against Uruguay and Japan, but remain in contention for selection for the tournament.
Attention is expected to focus on Alexander-Arnold’s position in the squad, given the current situation at right-back within Tuchel’s setup.
The former Liverpool defender has faced competition in the role, with Tuchel previously showing preference for Chelsea’s Reece James, Newcastle’s Tino Livramento and Arsenal’s Ben White.
Last year Tuchel said Bayer Leverkusen’s Jarrell Quansah, whose natural position is centre-back, was ahead of Alexander-Arnold in the right-back pecking order.
However, White is currently a major doubt for the tournament after suffering a knee injury in Arsenal’s win over West Ham, while Livramento is also unavailable, although there is optimism he could recover in time.
James, Tuchel’s first-choice right-back, has also recently returned from injury and is still building full fitness.
Luke Shaw could yet return to the England setup for the tournament after a long absence from international duty.
Shaw has not played for England since the Euro 2024 final defeat against Spain, largely due to injury issues.
The Manchester United defender has, however, featured regularly at club level this season, making 36 appearances in all competitions.
Danny Welbeck has also been considered after scoring 14 goals for Brighton under Fabian Hurzeler this season, although he has not yet featured in a Tuchel squad.
Alex Scott was called up to the senior England squad for the first time in November but was left out of Tuchel’s previous selection.
Tuchel will now continue assessing his options as he finalises the 26-man squad ahead of the World Cup in North America.
(BBC)
