England’s 26-man World Cup squad is confirmed — and, as usual, the debate has started in earnest.Thomas Tuchel’s picks have proved divisive, with high-profile stars such as Cole Palmer, Phil Foden and Harry Maguire and in-form creative players Morgan Gibbs-White and Adam Wharton all left out. Meanwhile, there were places for veteran midfielder Jordan Henderson and Ivan Toney, who has spent the last two seasons in the Saudi Pro League.We asked a panel of Athletic experts to debate Tuchel’s choices.Sum up your impression of this squad in three wordsJones: Overwhelmed by choice.Kay: Natives are restlessSpiers: Talented but confusing.James: Not the oneAnka: Tactically perverse. Tall.Which player is the luckiest to be on the plane?Jones: Given Ivan Toney has not been called up in a year, I’m shocked he has been included. I didn’t really expect Danny Welbeck, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, or Dominic Solanke to get the nod — but thought Tuchel would go with Kane and Watkins as the out-and-out No.9s and use the extra spot on a more versatile forward.Kay: Kay: Nothing personal, but I find Djed Spence’s inclusion slightly mystifying after a poor season at Tottenham. Yes he cover both full-back positions, but so does Tino Livramento. For me, Trent Alexander-Arnold would be a better option at right back and Lewis Hall a better option at left back. Tuchel will talk a lot about form, but there are a number of players there — Spence, John Stones, Noni Madueke, Anthony Gordon — who are not coming off a great season at club level.Spiers: The Arsenal winger who only started 15 Premier League games this season? The Newcastle winger who hasn’t played for six weeks and has only provided five assists in 45 matches in 2025-26? The Brentford midfielder who is, in the nicest possible way, effectively a mascot? Or the striker playing in a Middle Eastern league that Opta class as at a worse level that League One? Take your pick.Jordan Henderson is back for another crack at a major tournament (Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)James: I never thought for one minute that Ivan Toney would be on the plane. And, looking at his England record, it’s hard to believe that he’s going to the World Cup to do much other than take a penalty in a shootout. Toney has been left out of 16 of the last 18 England squads. He was an unused sub in one of the other two matches and played two minutes in the game against Senegal – his last appearance for his country, approaching a year ago. On top of that, he’s out of sight and out of mind in Saudi Arabia. Well, obviously he wasn’t in Tuchel’s eyes. By the way, I think Madueke, Henderson and Spence are all lucky to be going, too.Anka: Ivan Toney is the biggest surprise of the names we have at our disposal. England’s third-choice striker has been flexible in recent years, and I naively believed Tuchel would hover closer to Danny Welbeck. Toney has 32 goals in as many matches in the Saudi League this season. He’s good in the air and takes a good penalty. Good luck to him.Who is the unluckiest not to be on it?Jones: Harry Maguire couldn’t have done much more: he has been steadfast defensively, and has proven his ability to pop up with goals at necessary moments (including penalties). Morgan Gibbs-White can also feel very hard done by. His form has been strong and I expected his main obstacle to be competition in the attacking midfield positions. With Foden and Palmer not travelling (which is understandable given their respective struggles this season), I am amazed Gibbs-White hasn’t made the cut. Adam Wharton is unlucky, too.Kay: That’s a long list. In terms of form this season, Maguire, Lewis Hall, Luke Shaw, Adam Wharton, James Garner and Morgan Gibbs-White can all count themselves unlucky. But I have sympathy with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Cole Palmer and Phil Foden too. Some will say Palmer can have few complaints after a disappointing season at Chelsea, but he’s unlucky that Tuchel has given up on him rather than backed him to perform better in (one would hope) a much more stable, mature, positive team environment.Spiers: If Cole Palmer and Phil Foden have been left out on form alone and Ivan Toney has been included on form alone, then Morgan Gibbs-White is extremely unlucky not to be there. Tuchel clearly just doesn’t fancy him. Ditto Adam Wharton, whose skillset would demand inclusion from other European nations, but not England. Lots of orthodox left-backs might also be aggrieved that Tuchel doesn’t deem them necessary.Morgan Gibbs-White has been in superb recent form (Darren Staples/AFP via Getty Images)James: Adam Wharton. I’m so disappointed by his omission. Back in October I wrote that it would be a crying shame if England failed to make the most of his talent, so I guess I could see this coming. It feels like a classic case of people spending too much time worrying about what a player cannot do so well (run the most), rather than focusing on what they can do exceptionally well (pass bravely and brilliantly). Willing to take risks and always looking to play forward, Wharton offers something totally different to the other England midfielders, and he’s left-footed too, which brings another dimension. Yes, Morgan Gibbs-White is unlucky as well. And Harry Maguire.Anka: Back in November, Tuchel said he saw Trevoh Chalobah “on the level of mobility, as slightly ahead” of Harry Maguire. I believe it is unwise to leave out Maguire, but I can just about understand why. However, I need a clear explanation regarding the omissions of Morgan Gibbs-White and Adam Wharton, two players who can come off the bench and turbocharge the midfield in a myriad of ways.Is there enough creativity in this squad?Jones: I expected two of Gibbs-White, Palmer, and Foden to make the cut; for none of the three to do so is surprising. Any other country would probably be happy with having Jude Bellingham, Elliot Anderson, Declan Rice, Morgan Rogers, and Kobbie Mainoo to call on, though. Those players ought to be more than capable of creating enough chances.Kay: I don’t think so. There are a lot of players who are very good at running with the ball and cutting in from wide areas— an important skill, no doubt — but when it comes to the composure to set a tempo, the vision to spot an opening and the precision to set a play a defence-splitting pass, it worries me that there’s no Trent Alexander-Arnold, no Adam Wharton, no Phil Foden, no Cole Palmer, no Morgan Gibbs-White. This generation has so many technical, creative players. Clearly you can’t pick them all, but I feel there should have been room for more.Spiers: On paper maybe, but I’m not sure they have enough form players in attacking areas, albeit Arsenal are a current example of that not necessarily having to be the case to be successful. Look, we’ve seen in the last couple of tournaments that England have the talent, they pretty much have the creativity, but what they’ve needed is a little more positive intent, a little more tempo and some proactive substitutions. Does this squad offer that? It remains to be seen.Does Thomas Tuchel have enough creativity? (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)James: That’s a loaded question and for good reason: no, there’s not. I know Foden’s had a difficult season and Palmer’s not exactly been setting it alight, but for those two to miss out as well as Wharton and Gibbs-White… it’s disappointing.Anka: The breadth and depth of England’s talent pool is the envy of nearly every major European nation bar France. I’m less worried about the creativity levels and more worried about the fitness and fatigue levels of top players following an exhausting season.What happens if Harry Kane gets injured?Jones: Ollie Watkins starts. He does not have the same experience on the biggest stages as Kane, particularly as an international player — but his performances for Aston Villa this year put him ahead of Toney in the pecking order. To opt for a false nine or shoehorn in a player better suited to a wide role would be overthinking it. Watkins is Kane’s clear understudy.Kay: Watkins deputises. Or Toney. Neither is in the Kane class, but very few centre-forwards are. To be honest, I have bigger concerns with this squad.Spiers: It would be devastating but not terminal. Ollie Watkins is a fine alternative and one of the few attacking players in great form.James: We panic. I guess one blessing is that Ollie Watkins has come into form at the right time and, of course, he dovetails exceptionally well with his club teammate Morgan Rogers. I certainly don’t see Toney playing that role.Anka: Watkins starts. Bellingham picks up the slack (Morgan Rogers is not starting at 10 over the Real Madrid man). England keep on trucking.Who are your five first-choice penalty takers in a shoot-out?Jones: Kane, Saka, Bellingham, Toney, RashfordSpiers: Kane, Saka, Bellingham, James, Eze (they’d used all their subs and couldn’t bring Toney on).James: Kane, Saka, Gordon, Bellingham, Toney (don’t ask me how those five end up on the pitch at the same time).Anka: Kane, Bellingham, Saka, Anderson, Toney.Kay: Hate to be a killjoy, but it’s not even worth thinking about yet. (For me, I mean. Clearly Tuchel and his staff should give it some thought.)Can this squad win the World Cup? And if not, how far will England get?Jones: On paper they can, but I have as much faith in them as I do in pretty much any England men’s squad, which is to say I think they will dominate their group (though with at least one ludicrously boring game), win one spine-tingling knockout tie, and manage to lose excruciatingly in the quarter-finals or semi-finals.Kay: Quarter-final defeat most likely. They have a lot of very good players (some of them not in the squad) but there is not an abundance of top-class players who are in great form. Then there are the usual questions of heat, end-of-season fatigue, team spirit. They would need a very kind draw — like in 2018 — to get beyond the quarter-finals.Spiers: They can, but I’m not sure the defence is quite strong enough to cope with the extra risks Tuchel will need to take in other areas, and as mentioned the attacking players probably aren’t in the best shape collectively. Midfield is pretty good though.James: I thought England would probably get to the quarter-finals before Tuchel named a squad that has left me scratching my head. Maybe last-eight heartache is what it still will be. Central defence is a concern and I’m also not convinced that Kane will get the kind of attacking support that he enjoys at club level. What a shame Michael Olise opted to play for France, eh?Anka: Inglorious defeat in the quarter-finals with a star player picking up a controversial red card. The inquest asks how the atmosphere around the squad has been allowed to sour since the Gareth Southgate heyday.Name your starting XI for the first game against Croatia based on this squadCerys JonesOliver KayTim SpiersStuart JamesCarl Anka