Rashford, Henderson recalled in Tuchel’s first England squad

LONDON: Thomas Tuchel said Marcus Rashford and Jordan Henderson are contenders for England´s 2026 World Cup squad after earning recalls in his first squad on Friday.

Arsenal´s Myles Lewis-Skelly and Newcastle defender Dan Burn were handed their maiden call-ups for Tuchel´s first matches in charge in World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia.

England have turned to the former Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain coach in a bid to win a first major tournament since 1966 after losing the last two European Championship finals under Gareth Southgate.

Rashford last played for the Three Lions a year ago, but has been revitalised since a January loan move to Aston Villa from Manchester United. Henderson, 34, made the last of his 81 appearances for England back in November 2023 as moves to Saudi Arabia and then Ajax saw the former Liverpool captain fall down the pecking order for Southgate and interim boss Lee Carsley.

“Everyone who´s with us on this journey in the first camp is a contender for the World Cup,” Tuchel said at a press conference at Wembley. “Jordan, I think this is a pretty easy one,” he added. “What he brings to every team is his leadership, his character, personality, energy.

“He makes sure that everyone lives by the standards and with this characteristic he embodies everything we try to build as a team.” Rashford had been an outcast at United under Ruben Amorim, but has looked more like his old self in helping Villa to reach the quarter-finals of both the Champions League and FA Cup with four assists in nine appearances.

Tuchel said he wanted to “bond” with the 27-year-old and encourage Rashford not to fall back into bad habits with his work rate. “I felt that Marcus had a huge impact in Aston Villa since he changed,” said Tuchel, who won the Champions League with Chelsea in 2021.

“His hard work in counter pressing, his tracking back on his position was impressive and I had the strong feeling that we should nominate him, we should bring him in, to push him to stay on that level. To not fall back in old routines.”

Lewis-Skelly was expected to be included after excelling in his breakout season for the Gunners at 18. Burn is at the other end of his career, but is rewarded for his consistency with a first call up at 32.