• Read next I 22 days - Who are the pundits for BBC and ITV's 2026 World Cup teams? 

The case for the defence

It's rare that England go into a major tournament with no real sense of a first-choice back four, but it's still not certain that we know all the candidates either. 

At right-back, Reece James remains odds-on, but can his hamstrings hold up through a major tournament? And suddenly, the back-up to the Chelsea man has all but disappeared. Ben White's injury rules out his comeback carrying on, while Tino Livramento has also been sidelined and could be a risk to take him. 

Ezri Konsa's ability to cover works in his favour, but could the path be cleared for a dramatic Trent Alexander-Arnold recall?

On the other side, it looks as though Lewis Hall and Nico O'Reilly will be the left-back options, with it being too late for Luke Shaw. 

So, to the centre. Konsa, Marc Guehi and John Stones are likely to be among the starters, leaving a choice to add Dan Burn, Harry Maguire or even Levi Colwill, who's timed his return from injury impeccably. 

Getty

Men in the middle 

Declan Rice. Check. Elliott Anderson. Check. Jordan Henderson. Yep, check.

That doesn't leave a lot of room for another central option, so will Tuchel go for Adam Wharton, Kobbie Mainoo or new favourite James Garner?

Ahead of them, Morgan Rogers and Jude Bellingham can fight it out another day, because they'll be on the plane regardless. But does Morgan Gibbs-White miss out, despite being in terrific late-season form? 

The number 10 also puts Phil Foden and Cole Palmer under the spotlight. Will the manager squeeze them all in and fill the bench with plenty of attacking options?

Neither has enjoyed the most fruitful of seasons for club nor country and even with 26 names to choose from, there still could be a dramatic late call for either player. 

Getty Images

Harry Kane's understudy 

The England boss went from one extreme to the other over the last two camps, by first suggesting that Kane may not need a designated back-up, with several members of his squad able to fill that attacking void as a 'false nine' if need be. 

Yet, during March, both Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Dominic Solanke were given the chance to show they could play understudy to the England captain, with neither covering themselves in glory. While Ivan Toney and Danny Welbeck look like proper long shots right now. 

One man who wasn't there is Ollie Watkins. England's Euro 2024 hero is bang in form and has already filled that supersub role previously, so could yet usurp all the other options and return to the fold at the perfect time. 

Or will Tuchel use Marcus Rashford as the 'second striker' and use that extra place to include another possible attacking option from the wide areas? 

England

 

Watch World Cup archive, highlights and documentaries for FREE on DAZN

DAZN is the home of FIFA+ , a vast library of football on-demand content including World Cup archive, iconic documentaries, player profiles, live matches and both full match replays and highlights.

Watch it all for FREE on DAZN on smart TVs, phones, tablets, streaming devices, games consoles and web browsers.