England's 26-man squad for 2026 World Cup confirmed with several leaks ending up totally wrong

England's final squad for the 2026 World Cup has been officially confirmed and Thomas Tuchel has proved some of the leaks wrong.

The 2026 World Cup is now less than three weeks away as the biggest players in football will arrive in North America to compete in the biggest competition in the sport.

For the first time ever, a record 48 teams will compete in the World Cup, split into 12 groups of four with England set to compete in group in Group L against Croatia, Ghana and Panama.

Ahead of kick off, all nations have to confirm their official 26-man squad for the , with the likes of France, Brazil, Germany and Portugal among the first to reveal their selections.

And now, Thomas Tuchel has announced his final England World Cup squad as he prepared to take charge of his first major tournament since replacing Gareth Southgate in late 2024.

In between the sticks Tuchel named no surprises as Jordan Pickford will be deputised by Crystal Palace's Dean Henderson and Manchester City second keeper James Trafford.

However, in defence the England boss has made some surprising choices as Trent Alexander-Arnold, Harry Maguire and Lewis Hall are among the big names that have missed out.

Instead, England's defence will be made up of Manchester City's Marc Guehi and Nico O’Reilly who will be joined by Ezri Konsa, Reece James, John Stones, Dan Burn, Jarell Quansah, Tino Livramento, and Djed Spence.

Tuchel has also made some big calls in midfield with Cole Palmer and Phil Foden both missing out, with Declan Rice, Elliot Anderson, Kobbie Mainoo, Jordan Henderson, Morgan Rogers, Jude Bellingham, Eberechi Eze named in the squad.

The biggest surprise in the England squad is arguably Ivan Toney who is included despite his only appearance for Tuchel was being an 88th minute sub against Senegal.

He is joined by Harry Kane, Ollie Watkins, Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Gordon in England's attack.

England confirmed World Cup squad in full:

GOALKEEPERS:

Jordan Pickford, Dean Henderson, James Trafford

DEFENDERS:

Ezri Konsa, John Stones, Marc Guehi, Dan Burn, Jarell Quansah, Tino Livramento, Nico O’Reilly, Djed Spence, Reece James

MIDFIELDERS:

Declan Rice, Elliot Anderson, Kobbie Mainoo, Jordan Henderson, Morgan Rogers, Jude Bellingham, Eberechi Eze

FORWARDS:

Harry Kane, Ivan Toney, Ollie Watkins, Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Gordon

England squad leaks debunked after official announcement

In the hours leading up to Tuchel's official announcement, several of the names included in the squad were leaked online, meaning there was little surprise when the confirmation arrived on Friday morning.

Of course, the likes of Kane, Pickford, Guehi, Rice and several others were always going to be included in the squad.

However, there were also several names that had been predicted or leaked to have been selected by Tuchel who have now been confirmed not to make the cut.

For example, on Thursday (May 21) evening, it was revealed that 25 of the 26 players set to be a part of the squad had been leaked online with mystery surrounding the final player set to be included.

As reported by the BBC, it was widely expected that Real Madrid defender Trent Alexander-Arnold, Arsenal's Myles Lewis-Skelly or Everton midfielder James Garner would be Tuchel's 26th man.

But, now that the squad has been confirmed it has been revealed that Tottenham Hotspur defender Djed Spence was the final name in the England squad.

Spence, who has just four 4 senior caps for the England national team, is believed to have been included made the squad thanks to his ability to play on both sides of the defence.

The news comes less than 24 hours after it was confirmed that Spence had suffered a broken jaw during their 2-1 Premier League defeat to Chelsea.

Spence, 25, had been on the receiving end of Liam Delap's elbow as they both jumped for the ball in the final stages of the match, with the Chelsea striker receiving a yellow card for the incident.