England

The inclusion of Arsenal teenager Myles Lewis-Skelly is another big call made by Thoams Tuchel in his first squad.

On that decision, Tuchel said: "With injuries lately and the latest injury form Lewis Hall we ran out a little bit of left footers who can play left back. We were always impressed with Myles since he started he came so quick, a regular player for Arsenal, second best team in the country at the moment, quarter finalist in Champions League so huge concurrence in his club and Mikel Arteta picks him regularly so this is very impressive from the very start.

"I can understand that it feels a little bit like we fast forward a career that is already on fast pace I can assure a parental vibe, a little bit of a protective vibe to even feel like maybe we shouldn't nominate him to protect him a bit, to not skip under 21s, let him go there, breathe a little bit out of the spotlight

"Is this maybe even our response to not take him? But in the end with injuries and the quality and maturity he showed within the matches we decided to take him. We come back to the likes of Jordan Henderson. If we have young exciting talents like Myles in our squad it is even more important that he has the guidance and role models, players like Jordan Henderson at his side who take care of him."

England

Here's what Thomas Tuchel had to say on whether he is surprised at all by the reaction to the England squad: "No, I would be surprised if there wasn't a surprise and I think the debate comes with the job we have.

"I guess you would have loved to have been in our meeting room in the last days and we had emotional debates and intense debates.

"There were some very hard decisions, some more obvious and some more hidden but there are some very close decisions and there are some players not in the squad who absolutely did enough and deserved to be in the squad but it comes with the job - everyone talks about it and everyone has a strong opinion on it. It’s fair enough."

Alex Howell
BBC football news reporter at Arsenal's training ground

Speaking on the The Football News Show earlier...

Tuchel wanted to emphasise the physicality of the English game and he's definitely done that by picking Dan Burn from Newcastle, Marcus Rashford and Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa - a lot of powerful runners in this team and that's how he is going to set this England team up and to really impose themselves on other nations.

England

Among all the serious questions, Thomas Tuchel made time to squeeze in a quick joke when asked about Jordan Henderson.

Specifically, Tuchel was asked what Henderson said when he rang up and said: "Hi, it's Thomas Tuchel".

"Hi, I'm Jordan," was Tuchel's response, to a few chuckles.

The England coach added: "We had this phone call a few weeks ago where I wanted to check in, introduce myself and see how he feels about this idea and if he was ready. It was a video call because at least you can see reactions.

"He appreciated it. I didn't call him with an unknown number, I texted him before. For me, it was so nice to see his genuine reaction. He is a serial winner with over 80 caps and just the pure joy and how humble he was to take this decision. It was very impressive."

Thomas Tuchel says Arsenal defender Ben White wants to be back in the England squad, but it is a "bit too early" for his return post-injury.

White made himself unavailable for selection under former boss Gareth Southgate.

Tuchel also confirms Harry Kane will remain as captain.

England

England manager Thomas Tuchel on whether the squad chosen reflects the 'win now' attitude: "I truly believe that these two things have to be combined. I truly believe Dan Burn and Jordan Henderson have every chance to be with us in the World Cup. Football in general but maybe even more international football is about team spirit. It is about building a team that loves to play with each other, that transports the spirit to the fans, the nation and the country. It is about building a brotherhood. We cannot only do this with young players or senior players, it has to be a good balance.

"I was surprised that Dan [Burn] was never called up. He is such a tall guy but obviously it is easy to overlook him. It almost happened to me. I can tell you from these two phone calls from Jordan Henderson and Dan Burn, you instantly know that you picked the right guys."

Thomas Tuchel says Jordan Henderson and Dan Burn have "every chance" to be part of England's World Cup team, emphasising the need for a mix of experience and young talent as the Three Lions build towards their shot at winning the 2026 tournament.

Image source, Getty Images

After half-a-season in Saudi Arabia with Al-Ettifaq, Jordan Henderson made the switch to Dutch giants Ajax in January 2024.

Last season Ajax finished fifth in the Eredivisie which was won by PSV Eindhoven with a record number of points.

This season Ajax appear to be back to their best and are leading the way in the Dutch top flight by eight points. They were knocked out of the Europa League on Thursday night by Eintracht Frankfurt.

This season he has made 38 appearances for Ajax in all competitions and has contributed with six assists.

England

England manager Thomas Tuchel on bringing Marcus Rashford and Jordan Henderson back into the side: "Everyone who is with us on this journey and in this first camp is a contender for the World Cup. Every player is part of this first step. At the same time, it's only the first step so the nomination is not the nomination for America. We had tough decisions to take and we didn't make it easy for ourselves. We waited very long until Champions League games were over until we took our last decisions. It is important to be in the first camp and if you are in the first camp, you are in the first step of the journey.

"Jordan is a serial winner. He is captain of Ajax. He is available and has played a lot of matches. What he brings to every team is leadership, character, personality, energy. He makes sure that everyone lives by standards and with this characterisitic he emobides everything that we try to build. We try to build a team for our fans and a team that they are proud of and can identity with. Jordan embodies everything that we want from this team.

"With Marcus, he is a familiar face but a different situation. I felt that he had a huge impact at Aston Villa, he made a huge impact from the bench mostly. The impact was impressive. The physical impact was impressive and most importantly, his workrate, his defensive ability and tracking back was impressive. I had the strong feeling that we should nominate him, bring him in and to push him to stay on that level to not fall back on old routines. This camp is to push him to stay on this level."

England

Thomas Tuchel says Jordan Henderson "embodies everything we want this team to be", while he also praises the "huge" impact Marcus Rashford has had since his January move to Aston Villa.

Right, here is Thomas Tuchel now following the announcement of his first England squad.

You can watch at the top of this page and we'll bring you the full quotes as we get them.

Image source, Getty Images

Newcastle centre-back Dan Burn has earned a place in the England squad for the very first time.

So has Arsenal's Myles Lewis-Skelly,18, who made his Premier League debut in September. He has since made 12 more league appearances for the Gunners and scored one goal.

Liverpool defender Jarell Quansah was in the provisional squad for Euro 2024 but didn't make the final cut. Quansah has made 21 appearances for Liverpool this season, including 10 in the Premier League.

Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford was called up to the senior squad for the first time in March 2024 but is yet to make an appearance. He has kept 25 clean sheets in the Championship this season.

Image source, Getty Images

Thomas Tuchel has come under a lot of scrutiny already, having brought back the likes of Jordan Henderson, Kyle Walker and Marcus Rashford while excluding the likes of Morgan Gibbs-White, Conor Gallagher and Adam Wharton.

Despite appearing to favour experience, the average age of Tuchel's first squad selection is similar to that of interim England manager Lee Carsley.

The average age of Carsley's squad was 25 years and four months, while Tuchel's squad has an average age of 25 years and eight months.

The optics suggests that Carsley went with a younger squad and Tuchel with a more experienced one. But with average age essentially the same, the evidence points to the contrary. However, Carsley only had three players over the age of 30, while Tuchel has included five with the selection of the likes of Henderson and Dan Burn.

Just 10 minutes until we hear from Thomas Tuchel. Don't go anywhere!

There's certainly no shortage of talking points from his first Three Lions squad.

A reminder that England play their opening two World Cup qualifiers at Wembley this month, with Albania first on Friday, 21 March before Latvia three days later.

Arne Slot, speaking at his news conference before the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle, has praised Jarrell Quansah's mentality following the defender's England call-up.

"It says a lot about his mentality. I think last season everybody saw what a talent he is. He showed in recent performances that he outgrew being a talent and that's what Thomas Tuchel saw by calling him up."

Slot also spoke about Quansah's versatility and praised the defender for offering the team a different attacking dimension whilst playing as a right-back.

"Last few times he had to play for us, even in a position he is not completely used to as right full-back. But in my opinion, he has the quality to play in that position because he is strong, fast, he is very comfortable with the ball and it gives us an extra quality if we play him."

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Another notable absentee from Thomas Tuchel's squad that many of you have picked up on is Adam Wharton.

The Crystal Palace midfielder has recently returned from injury - a persistent groin problem which he had surgery for in November.

Wharton, 21, returned to the starting eleven against Aston Villa on 25 February, after fourth months without a league start.

Too recent a return for Tuchel to consider him? We'll find out shortly.