England squad: Maguire, Alexander-Arnold and Mainoo pushing for England recalls

For the first time since he became England manager, Thomas Tuchel is expected to include at least one Manchester United player in his latest squad, with Harry Maguire the most likely to earn a recall.

Kobbie Mainoo's return to form - and to regular first team football - means he too is pushing for a call up, with Luke Shaw having an outside chance of making this final England squad before Tuchel names his 25 players for the World Cup.

No United player has been involved with England in 18 months, since Mainoo and Maguire were last called up in September 2024. But with that duo now among the first names on Michael Carrick's team sheet - and a run of seven wins out of nine matches for their club - both have played themselves into England contention.

Maguire's leadership skills and experience, with 64 England caps and 12 World Cup appearances, make him a strong contender, especially now he is fully recovered from the injury woes which dogged him down for the whole of 2025.

James Garner is offering competition for Mainoo in midfield, after a number of outstanding performances for Everton in the Premier League - none more so than his showing in the narrow defeat to Arsenal last weekend. A first senior call-up for the man who turned 25 last Friday is close.

Garner has played at every level for England's youth teams, and was a key member of the u21s squad that won the Euros in 2023.

A question mark over Mainoo's inclusion would be around his intensity levels, having not played a full 90 minutes in the Premier League under Ruben Amorim, and facing a stop-start involvement before Carrick took over.

In fact, with United only now competing in the Premier League, and facing one match per week, doubts remain over whether Shaw's injury history would hinder him from coping with the rigours of a major tournament, and the possibility of a match every four days. That is something Tuchel is carefully considering.

Lewis Hall is a much more likely option for this England squad at left back, after his good form for Newcastle, with team mate Tino Livramento (with his added versatility of being able to play on either defensive flank) also looking well-placed for a call up.

In the absence of the injured Reece James, Trent Alexander-Arnold has a strong chance of a recall too, following his more regular inclusion in the Real Madrid side. He hasn't been involved with his country since June last year, but Tuchel is a big fan of his footballing ability.

Jude Bellingham is expected to be included by Tuchel - even though he is still recovering from a hamstring injury he picked up on February 1. He is back in training, but wasn't included in the Real Madrid squad which knocked Manchester City out of the Champions League earlier this week.

Even if Bellingham can't feature heavily in the two friendly matches against Uruguay and Japan at Wembley, it's thought Tuchel will want his senior players in-camp, as they begin discussions around the details and logistics for this summer's World Cup campaign.

The England boss has big decisions to make concerning his number 10 options, with Bellingham, Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers, Phil Foden and Eberechi Eze all competing against each other.

Will Tuchel decide to narrow that pool down for this spring camp and leave some big names at home? Or will he call them all up to have one full, final fight to determine the pecking order?

Eze's wonder goal against Leverkusen in the Champions League on Tuesday has strengthened his case, as has the fact that his versatility means he is a good option on the left wing too.

Of all those stellar No 10 names, Palmer is probably the most at risk, owing to his indifferent form for Chelsea. Hampered by injury for much of this season, he hasn't been able to hit the performance heights which have startled over recent seasons.

But with six goals and three assists in 2026, the stats say he is still far-outstripping the likes of Rogers (five goal involvements) Eze (six goal involvements) and Foden (just one assist and no goals in 16 appearances for Manchester City).

The issues continue up front, with no obvious understudy for Harry Kane, whose two goals for Bayern Munich in the Champions League in mid-week have further underlined he is in a class of his own. That made it 17 goals and two assists in 14 appearances since New Year's Day for the England captain.

By comparison, Tuchel's next-favoured option is Ollie Watkins, who has managed just three goals since the turn of the year, and is horribly out of form. Will that bring Danny Welbeck or Dominic Calvert-Lewin into the England manager's thinking?

As ever, there are some incredibly taxing decisions for Tuchel ahead of this next international break. But with the start of the World Cup now 12 weeks away - and two more friendlies before he picks his final list of 25 - every selection and omission he makes now will have extra meaning and importance.