England manager Thomas Tuchel has revealed that Manchester United defender Harry Maguire was omitted from his first Three Lions squad based on a mixture of poor form and fitness issues.
The former Chelsea and Bayern Munich manager began his reign as England boss during the March international break, securing comfortable victories over Albania and Latvia to kickstart the 2026 World Cup qualification campaign.
The German’s first squad selection was naturally scrutinised with Marcus Rashford and Jordan Henderson surprise recalls, while other high-profile names such as Ollie Watkins failed to make the cut.
Maguire was another regular who was omitted for the Wembley clashes and it was assumed that the centre-back simply missed out due to the calf injury that has sidelined him since Man Utd’s FA Cup defeat to Fulham at the beginning of the month.
While his fitness problems contributed to his exclusion, Tuchel has admitted that others were simply in stronger form than Maguire.
“It was a close decision,” Tuchel confessed to The Times regarding Maguire’s absence. “We chose [Marc] Guehi and [Ezri] Konsa at the moment. I think they are a little bit in a better rhythm and deserve to be with us. Two right-footers in central defence and the rest were left-footers in the centre of defence.
“The second reason was [Maguire] was not fit when we [named the squad]. It was presumed that he can play but we didn’t want to nominate a player who we had to take a risk with and constantly assess whether he can do a full training session or half training session.”
Maguire last played for England during the September international period and faces a battle to earn his place in future squads. Guehi, Konsa, Levi Colwill and John Stones are all seemingly ahead of him in the pecking order, while Dan Burn and Jarell Quansah were selected before him in March.
The 32-year-old has struggled in a deflated and unconvincing Man Utd team this season and his life has been made more challenging by the arrival of Ruben Amorim, who favours a 3-4-2-1 formation.
Tuchel sympathised with Maguire’s issues, stating: “It’s not so easy for [Maguire] at his club at the moment — he plays in a back three. But he’s a top professional and he’s very important for England. He took [his omission] unbelievably well.
“He wrote me messages to wish us good luck and you see what a person he is. He’s a top guy and he will always be in contention.”
