Rio Ngumoha cannot play at World Cup if England need to make late replacement

Rio Ngumoha won't be playing at this summer's World Cup if Thomas Tuchel needs to call a replacement to his England squad.

The 17-year-old was the standout performer in England's 1-0 World Cup warm-up win over New Zealand on Saturday, coming off the bench at half-time to scoop the man of the match.

In doing so, Ngumoha became the fifth-youngest player to represent England in history - behind only Theo Walcott, Wayne Rooney, Jude Bellingham and 19th century full-back James Prinsep.

Ngumoha is one of four young players Thomas Tuchel brought to Florida alongside his 26-man World Cup squad with Alex Scott, Josh King and Ethan Nwaneri also getting the call-up primarily to make up the numbers while Arsenal's contingent arrived late following the Champions League final.

The Liverpool winger rounds off a breakout season having made 29 appearances for the Reds and earned a PFA Young Player of the Year nomination but won't be able to play any part in this summer's tournament.

FIFA rules allow squads to make changes ahead of a tournament but only up to 24 hours before a team's opening match in case of injury or sickness. Many changes to the original squad lists have already been made, with Scotland losing Billy Gilmour to injury as well as German wonderkid Lennart Karl missing out on his first World Cup after suffering an injury in training.

However, the replacement player must be on a country's 55-man provisional squad list, meaning if any one of England's 26 picks up an injury or falls ill before their Group L opener against Croatia on June 17, Ngumoha cannot step in.

The only player from England's pre-tournament extras eligible to be called up is Bournemouth's Scott — who was included in the provisional 55.

Alex Scott and Rio Ngumoha

Tuchel made exactly that distinction when announcing the training group. "I am happy that these guys are with us, especially Alex who was on the list of 55 and had a disappointing phone call as well that he didn't make the first cut," the England boss said. "His reaction was outstanding. It showed me his character."

Once the tournament gets underway, the rules get even tighter. From that point, only goalkeepers can be replaced.

Ngumoha is still eligible to play in the final friendly game against Costa Rica and looks almost guaranteed to play in a future tournament if his meteoric rise continues.

His exclusion means Liverpool do not have a single player in the England squad for a major tournament for the first time since 1986.