Tuchel impressed World Key – Tuchel impressed, but he won’t be at the 2026 World Cup

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Rio Ngumoha, Liverpool’s young striker, will leave the England squad this week, but not before having made a strong impression on coach Thomas Tuchel and his teammates.

At just 17 years old, the player was named man of the match on his debut for national team A, last Saturday, after coming off the bench in the second half of the 1-0 victory over New Zealand, in a preparatory game for the 2026 World Cup.

Despite his remarkable display, Ngumoha did not make the final 26-man squad for the tournament. The youngster was one of five supplementary players called up to the training camp in Florida, essentially to complete training, as Arsenal players such as Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke joined later due to their participation in the Champions League final.

The quality shown by Ngumoha in training was such that Tuchel felt obliged to give him minutes in the first friendly, a decision that proved to be the right one. However, the striker will not be able to be called up to replace an injured teammate, as he was not included in the pre-call of 55 players sent to FIFA, a situation that generates some strangeness, given that in March the England coach had not ruled out his inclusion.

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