England's squad numbers for the World Cup have been leaked, offering strong hints about Thomas Tuchel's likely starting XI for the opening match against Croatia on Wednesday, June 17. The numbers emerged four hours before the official announcement at 3pm on Tuesday.
John Stones, despite limited game time for Manchester City this season, has been given the No.5 shirt, suggesting he will partner No.6 Marc Guehi at centre-back ahead of Ezri Konsa. Nico O'Reilly, wearing No.3, appears set to start at left-back, while Elliot Anderson (No.8) is expected to line up alongside Declan Rice (No.4) in midfield.
Marcus Rashford has been assigned the No.11 shirt, potentially indicating he is ahead of Anthony Gordon (No.18) for a place in attack. However, numbers are not always definitive; Reece James retains his favoured No.24 but is tipped to start at right-back, and Jude Bellingham keeps the No.10 despite Morgan Rogers (No.17) often being preferred under Tuchel.
A 21-man squad has arrived in Miami for pre-tournament training, with five players granted extra rest after European finals. Dean Henderson helped Crystal Palace win the Conference League, while Arsenal's Rice, Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze lost the Champions League final.
England will play warm-up friendlies against New Zealand and Costa Rica in Florida before the tournament. It remains unclear whether training invitees Alex Scott, Josh King, Rio Ngumoha and Ethan Nwaneri will feature in those matches.
