Africa-Press – Tanzania. England’s new head coach Thomas Tuchel will name his first squad on Friday morning as the Three Lions prepare for the start of World Cup qualifying.
England play Latvia and Albania on 21 and 24 March, and Tuchel has just seven international windows and roughly 450 days between now and the ultimate challenge of winning the 2026 World Cup.
BBC Sport looks at some of the talking points around Tuchel’s first announcement, including:
Forwards: Kane a definite but injuries and poor form limit attackers
Full-backs: Ben White return? Myles Lewis-Skelly debut?
Will Palace midfielder Adam Wharton be called up?
Tuchel has spoken to more than 55 players on the phone to “build connections”
Will selection give any clues of a 4-2-3-1 formation or 3-4-2-1?
Wildcards: Ethan Nwaneri, Jamie Gittens, Liam Delap, Elliott Anderson
Follow the BBC Sport’s live page on Friday as the squad is announced, including a Tuchel news conference live stream.
55 players spoken to – what has changed?
Tuchel has planned his squad announcement for Friday to take into account the English players playing on Thursday in Europe for Manchester United, Tottenham and Chelsea.
Over the past few weeks, Tuchel has spoken to more than 55 players individually on the phone, sources told BBC Sport. FA chief Mark Bullingham said Tuchel was “building connections”.
Tuchel has been partly working remotely from Germany, although Bullingham clarified last week that Tuchel is based at St George’s Park and living in London.
The England boss is often shown on TV cameras at Premier League matches and has travelled to Milan to watch Kyle Walker, Madrid to see Jude Bellingham and also been to Germany to watch England captain Harry Kane.
Tuchel’s assistant Anthony Barry has also been to watch games individually and Tuchel has been at St George’s Park between two to three days a week, with his backroom team planning next week’s camp.
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