Thomas Tuchel has submitted his provisional England squad for the World Cup, with Luke Shaw, Danny Welbeck, Alex Scott and Trent Alexander-Arnold believed to be among the players named on the 55-man list. FIFA allowed nations to file a long list of up to 55 players by midnight on Monday, and Tuchel must now narrow that group to 26 for the tournament in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
There has been no official communication from the Football Association about the provisional squad, but the governing body plans to announce England's final World Cup group on Friday, 22 May. The tournament starts on 11 June.
Shaw's inclusion would mark another step in his England return after he last played for the side in the Euro 2024 final defeat against Spain. The Manchester United left-back has 34 England caps and has made 36 appearances for his club this season. Welbeck, meanwhile, has scored 14 goals for Brighton this season and has not yet broken into one of Tuchel's squads, while Scott was called up into the senior England squad for the first time in November and was omitted from the previous camp.
The provisional list also reflects Tuchel's unsettled right-back picture. Alexander-Arnold, Shaw, Welbeck and Scott were all left out of the squad for the friendlies against Uruguay and Japan, when Reece James, Tino Livramento and Ben White were preferred at right-back. White is now a major doubt for the World Cup after suffering a knee injury in Sunday's win at West Ham, Livramento is currently unavailable, and there is hope he will still be fit in time for the tournament.
That leaves Tuchel with decisions to make before the deadline at the end of the month. FIFA's longer submission window gives every coach room to hedge against late fitness problems, but England's final answer will have to come soon, and the names left off on 22 May will tell as much about Tuchel's plan as the players who make it.
