Trent left out, Welbeck ignored, Maguire back: What Tuchel's 35-man England squad really tells us about his World Cup plans

Thomas Tuchel named his 35-man England squad for the March friendlies against Uruguay and Japan on Friday morning. Trent Alexander-Arnold is out, Luke Shaw is out, Ollie Watkins is out, Danny Welbeck, who has 11 goals this season at 35 years old, is out. And Harry Maguire, who hadn't been called up since September 2024 and has spent most of the intervening period being written off at club level, is back in.

This is Tuchel's last squad before he names his 26 for the World Cup in June. Every decision he's made here means something.

The Alexander-Arnold omission is the one that generates the most noise, and with good reason. The Real Madrid right-back has been in a relatively good form recently in the Spanish capital after a difficult start to life in Madrid, and he remains one of the most technically gifted players England have ever produced in his position.

Tuchel has been consistent about his concern with the defensive side of Alexander-Arnold's game, saying that “taking the defensive part very, very seriously” is non-negotiable for him. What that means in practice is that Djed Spence and Tino Livramento are in this squad and Alexander-Arnold isn't, which is a big statement that Tuchel is going to have to back it up at the World Cup or face serious questions about one of the most puzzling calls of his tenure.

The Welbeck situation is its own kind of strange. The Brighton striker is 35 and has 11 league goals this season, his best return in years, and he's done it consistently enough that the argument for a squad place was genuine rather than sentimental.

Tuchel has, however, gone with Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Dominic Solanke as Kane's backup options, which tells you a lot about how the manager sees the role. He wants movement behind the striker instead and not just a similar profile to Kane, and both DCL and Solanke offer movement and pressing that Welbeck, despite his quality, doesn't quite replicate at this stage of his career.

Still, 11 goals and no call-up in your final evaluation window is a hard message to receive.

Shaw's omission is less surprising when you look at the depth at left-back. Lewis Hall has made the spot his own under Tuchel's watch and been one of Newcastle's more consistent performers this season. Nico O'Reilly, who can play the position and brings midfield versatility, adds cover. Shaw has been good under Michael Carrick at Old Trafford, but the left-back position is settled in a way the right-back spot clearly isn't, and his omission doesn't carry the same weight as Alexander-Arnold's.

What the Squad Tells You

What the squad does tell you, with some clarity, is how Tuchel intends to use this window. He's split the camp into two groups deliberately, bringing in fringe players first for the Uruguay game and integrating the core group ahead of Japan. It's the kind of structure that lets him evaluate without overloading his best players four months before a World Cup, and it also means James Garner, earning his first senior call-up from Everton, gets a proper look in a lower-pressure environment.

Jason Steele's inclusion, with Tuchel already showing he's there as a training goalkeeper for the summer, is less about March and more about giving Steele familiarity with the squad culture before North America.

Maguire's return is interesting for what it says about England's centre-back depth. Marc Guehi is nailed on. John Stones, injury permitting, travels. Ezri Konsa has been solid. But Tuchel clearly wants experience alongside the others, and Maguire at his best in a back four under a manager who actually communicates clearly with him has never been the problem his critics made it.

He was outstanding at the 2022 World Cup and reached the Euro 2024 final. The question is whether the version of him that's been improving under Carrick at United is close enough to that player for Tuchel to trust in June.

The forward line, though, is where the real intrigue sits. Ten forwards in a 35-man squad and still no room for Welbeck. Marcus Rashford's inclusion, after a difficult start to the season before he moved to Barcelona, suggests Tuchel still believes in the forward's international pedigree even when his club form has been patchy.

Anthony Gordon is in after a fine season at Newcastle. Jarrod Bowen continues to hold his place. Noni Madueke, who left Chelsea in January for Arsenal and has hit form under Mikel Arteta is rewarded for it. The attacking options are genuinely deep, which is England's strongest position heading into the summer.

There's one name hovering over all of it that Tuchel hasn't addressed, which is Max Dowman. The 16-year-old became the youngest Premier League scorer in history against Everton last week, and the calls for him to be fast-tracked into the World Cup squad have started in some corners of the media.

Tuchel will know better than to take that seriously right now, and the FA's own regulations around the workload of players his age make it a non-starter in March. But by June, if Dowman keeps doing what he's been doing for Arsenal, the question is going to become impossible to dodge.

The World Cup squad gets named in less than three months. The conversation is already starting.