Thomas Tuchel must submit his 55-man long list for the World Cup today, and no one should be too surprised if Ivan Toney is the wildcard to be on the plane to the United States this summer. Toney, 30, has not featured for England since June 2025 and has drifted from the picture since his move to Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli. But England boss Tuchel faces a big dilemma over his strike force, with the feeling that he will end up taking three out-and-out strikers.
Harry Kane is clearly the first-choice striker. In March, England tried out Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Dominic Solanke, and neither really grasped the opportunity. That may open the door for Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins, who has been in terrific form since being left out for the friendlies with Japan and Uruguay. Tottenham striker Solanke will also miss out through injury, while Brighton's Danny Welbeck may make the 55 on the basis that he covers a lot of positions. But Toney, England's forgotten man, could be the surprise choice given he went to the last Euros, scored in a shoot-out, and could be the other centre forward complementing Kane while Watkins is the front runner.
It would be naive to think Toney did not fall down the pecking order. He was picked last June, but his last run-out was as an 88th-minute substitute against Senegal in a 3-1 defeat in a friendly at the City Ground. He has been nowhere near since. But quietly, Toney has scored 40 goals in 46 games in Saudi Arabia, and while it may be hard to judge, it might have put him back in the frame. There is an age-old debate about how many strikers to take in a squad. When it was 23 players, you were looking at two strikers with the possibility of one of the wide players being versatile. It will be 26 this summer, so you can surely take three. What are the options? Liam Delap? No. Calvert-Lewin? Probably not. If Welbeck was a shout, surely he would have been in for March. At least Tuchel knows Toney, and that is why amid the raft of names, a striker who is in form, scoring penalties without even looking, and has gone to a tournament before should be under consideration.
The Football Association has to submit the 55-man long list by 23:59 central European time to FIFA on Monday night. The long list is not a new thing, but it is procedural and is not made public unless the FAs choose to do so. England will not, but players and their clubs will have a good idea. They will not be booking holidays. England are set to confirm their squad next week, and it has to be submitted to FIFA by June 1, who then publish the final squads on June 2.
