England 2026 World Cup watch: What Thomas Tuchel will have learned from the FA Cup final

ArgentinaAustraliaBelgiumBrazilCameroonCanadaCosta RicaCroatiaDenmarkEcuadorEnglandFranceGermanyGhanaIranJapanMexicoMoroccoNetherlandsNorthern IrelandPolandPortugalQatarRepublic of IrelandSaudi ArabiaScotlandSenegalSerbiaSouth KoreaSpainSwitzerlandTunisiaUruguayUSMNTUSWNTWalesPodcastsFA Cup Final Will Chelsea defender Levi Colwill make the cut for England's World Cup squad? Clive Rose/Getty Images Share articleWhat better way for England hopefuls to showcase their candidacy for a place in Thomas Tuchel’s imminent 26-man World Cup squad than by impressing in English football’s showpiece occasion? Although there were more immediate club priorities (aka, a big, shiny trophy) occupying their minds, Saturday’s meeting between Manchester City and Chelsea at Wembley allowed six of Tuchel’s hopefuls to stake their claims as he watched from the stands. The England head coach will name his party for the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico on Friday, after a showpiece game that gave him a chance to watch the eligible City and Chelsea players perform in the sort of pressurised atmosphere that awaits next month across the Atlantic. Three of the six already seem destined to be in that final squad if they stay fit: City duo Nico O’Reilly and Marc Guehi, and Chelsea skipper Reece James. The latter’s club colleague Cole Palmer will also surely be involved, despite a difficult campaign for him in terms of form and fitness. But for City’s goalkeeper on the day James Trafford and Chelsea centre-half Levi Colwill, it was a great opportunity to press their case for inclusion.  So, did they give Tuchel anything to ponder across those 90-odd minutes at the national stadium? Let’s start with Colwill, who has missed nearly the entire campaign after sustaining a serious knee injury on his first day of pre-season training last summer. His start at Wembley on Saturday was only his third first-team appearance of 2025-26, following on from 45 minutes in a 3-1 home defeat to Nottingham Forest on May 4 and the full game five days later in a 1-1 draw away to Liverpool. The centre-back situation is probably the most open and competitive selection battle ongoing in Tuchel’s squad but, despite his lengthy absence, Colwill is a player the head coach likes. Having secured his previous four caps under Gareth Southgate and interim successor Lee Carsley, the 23-year-old played for Tuchel in the friendly against Senegal last June and went on to help Chelsea win the Club World Cup in the U.S. the following month. Then came that ruptured anterior cruciate ligament and a lengthy rehabilitation process. Colwill has impressed since returning for these final few games of Chelsea’s season. As The Athletic reported last week, he was included in Tuchel’s provisional 55-man squad and, if there are lingering concerns in the manager’s mind after such a long absence, Colwill’s displays over the past couple of weeks have been encouraging. Players can pick up nagging muscular injuries when they return to action in such circumstances as their bodies readjust to the physical demands of regular match action but, so far, Colwill has fared well. His ability is not in question — he was generally excellent in the FA Cup final. Although he was beaten by Antoine Semenyo’s sublime finish for the game’s only goal — a wonderful piece of improvisation — Colwill was, overall, one of Chelsea’s better performers. He was defensively strong and resolute, and also excellent on the ball, coolly and confidently threading passes through the City lines into midfield.  That is the sort of ball-playing ability England will need as they build from the back at the World Cup. Guehi will go into the tournament as Tuchel’s first-choice central defender, but the spot alongside him is there for the taking. Colwill could be the man to grasp it. He certainly looks a safer option than former City stalwart John Stones. Tuchel would ideally have loved to tap into the soon-to-be 32-year-old’s vast international experience, given he boasts 87 caps, but Stones has endured another difficult campaign, which is to be his ninth and last at the club, through injury. He has started just three matches — all of them in the FA Cup — since November and was an unused substitute on Saturday. There are few standout candidates for the central defensive positions in this summer’s squad, but Tuchel can’t take a chance on selecting two players there who have had injury-ravaged seasons, so it could be a straight choice between the youth and talent of Colwill and the experience and wisdom of Stones. The Chelsea man has made his case to be the one boarding the plane.  Trafford is in contention for the squad’s third goalkeeping spot, despite largely being the backup to last summer’s signing Gianluigi Donnarumma this season at City. He has not started a Premier League game since the 2-1 defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion at the end of August (a match played the day before the Italian was signed), with all his subsequent opportunities having come in the domestic cups plus one Champions League tie (a 2-0 home defeat against Bayer Leverkusen). There were moments in Saturday’s final when Trafford did not entirely convince under pressure, but the fact Tuchel started him in the friendly draw with Uruguay at Wembley in March (his only senior cap to date), when he was only beaten by a late penalty, suggests he is very much in the German’s thoughts. What, then, of Palmer? Given his form over the previous two seasons, when he scored 25 goals in 45 appearances for new club Chelsea in 2023-24 and then 18 more in 52 last time out, the Chelsea forward would have been considered a certainty for the World Cup and a strong contender to start the first fixture against Croatia on June 17. However, the 24-year-old Manchester City academy graduate has endured a far tougher campaign this time, leaving him facing a fight for his place in Tuchel’s 26. Again, injuries have stalled his momentum and he has not been helped by the sense of turmoil that has engulfed Chelsea this season, as they have churned through three managers (including Calum McFarlane having two spells in interim charge). When on form, Palmer remains an incredible talent and potential match-winner. Tuchel will be aware of that. And although he is often best in a floating role, with licence to roam where he feels he can do most damage, what he demonstrated at Wembley on Saturday was his ability to stick to a game plan. Playing in the attacking inside-right channel in a wing-back system, he showed superb discipline to track back repeatedly to cover Malo Gusto and double up with Wesley Fofana in stifling the threat of City winger Jeremy Doku. That all came at the expense of his own natural game at times and may not have been the role with which he would have wanted to impress Tuchel, but he stuck at it. The England boss will surely have noted that much. Of the others who played on Saturday, James and O’Reilly may well start against Croatia in the Dallas Cowboys’ 70,000-capacity AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. In both cases, their performances in the final showcased their versatility. Long-time right-back James played as a holding midfielder, potentially offering Tuchel another option for the World Cup, even if he does not appear entirely comfortable collecting the ball in tighter midfield areas. O’Reilly, a midfielder in his academy days, was in what has become his usual position of left-back, but he plays it with a difference under City manager Pep Guardiola. He was very advanced in this game, often attacking in the inside channel to Doku. Tuchel will likely ask him to play a more restrained, traditional full-back role for England, but is sure to question whether such a role will suit the 21-year-old’s natural attacking tendencies. O’Reilly has started 43 games for City this season across all competitions and, like James, has also been asked to play in central midfield, almost as a No 10, at times. As a result, he has made 15 goal contributions (nine goals and six assists). Tuchel cannot ignore that attacking potential when it comes to his final selection for the World Cup. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms