Harry Kane intervened and made sure Thomas Tuchel picked one player for England squad

England manager Thomas Tuchel has revealed the influence of captain Harry Kane on one of the surprise inclusions in his squad for World Cup 2026.

The Three Lions manager named his 26-man World Cup squad on Friday after a series of leaked omissions and the selection of former Brentford centre-forward Ivan Toney was one of the surprise decisions.

Kane and Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins will be joined by the Al-Ahli striker, whose last call-up to the England squad was for last year's friendly defeat against Senegal at the City Ground.

Toney, 30, has not been picked for an England squad since apparently falling short of Tuchel's training expectations in Spain during his last international involvement.

His profile and skillset offer something England don't otherwise have and his national team captain had a say, according to the head coach.

"The level of training and the level of commitment was not where we wanted," Tuchel said of Toney's only previous England camp under the German last June.

"We had to clear the air after that. That was the first step to even start thinking about calling him up again, because I was not happy.

"Me and the coaching team started talking more deeply about the team and started talking about different scenarios and what would be the most offensive line-up if we go 1-0 down with 15 minutes to play and we need a goal."

Toney, a former Newcastle United forward who joined Saudi Pro League side Al-Ahli from Brentford in 2024 after a tumultuous conclusion to his time in West London, has won seven international caps since his debut in 2023, scoring once.

"His name came up constantly. Because he has a presence. Harry [Kane] loves to play with him, because he thinks that he takes the attention off him.

Ivan Toney finds form in the Saudi Pro League

"We try to build a strong set-piece squad. He can have his role there, defensively and offensively, and he is a world-class penalty taker. He ticks a lot of boxes."

Tuchel confirmed that he doesn't see Toney as a starter for England, with captain Kane the obvious choice in a preferred one-striker system, but revealed 'very good feedback' on Toney from Matthias Jaissle, a fellow German who is Toney's head coach at Al-Ahli.

The England striker has scored 55 goals in 62 league appearances for the Jeddah club, who finished fifth in the 2025-26 season and have won the AFC Champions League Elite two years in a row.