England manager Thomas Tuchel has explained that Manchester United defender Harry Maguire’s omission from his first Three Lions squad was due to a combination of poor form and fitness concerns.
Tuchel began his tenure as England boss during the March international break, leading the team to comfortable victories over Albania and Latvia in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
His first squad selection faced scrutiny, with surprising recalls for Marcus Rashford and Jordan Henderson, while high-profile players like Ollie Watkins missed out. Maguire was another notable absentee for the Wembley matches, with many assuming his exclusion was related to the calf injury he sustained in Manchester United’s FA Cup defeat to Fulham earlier in the month.
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While his fitness issues played a role, Tuchel acknowledged that other defenders were simply in better form than Maguire.
“It was a close decision,” Tuchel explained to The Times about Maguire’s absence. “We chose [Marc] Guehi and [Ezri] Konsa at the moment. I think they are in a better rhythm and deserved to be with us. Two right-footers in central defence and the rest were left-footers.”
Tuchel added, “The second reason was Maguire was not fully fit when we named the squad. It was assumed he could play, but we didn’t want to take the risk of nominating a player we constantly had to assess to see if he could do a full or half training session.”
Maguire, who last played for England in September, faces stiff competition to secure his place in future squads. With Guehi, Konsa, Levi Colwill, and John Stones ahead of him in the pecking order, and Dan Burn and Jarell Quansah selected in March, Maguire’s path back to the national team looks challenging.
The 32-year-old has had a difficult season at Manchester United, struggling in a team lacking form, further complicated by Ruben Amorim’s preference for a 3-4-2-1 formation.
Tuchel expressed sympathy for Maguire, saying, “It’s not easy for him at his club right now — he plays in a back three. But he’s a top professional and very important for England. He took his omission unbelievably well.”
“He wrote me messages wishing us good luck, and you can see what kind of person he is. He’s a top guy, and he will always be in contention.”
