England have named a much-changed lineup against Uruguay tonight.
Head coach Thomas Tuchel named an enlarged 35-man squad for Wembley friendlies against Uruguay on Friday and Japan next Tuesday, but the group is effectively split down the middle, with 11 players who have had the busiest club schedules to first be given a mid-season break and play no part this evening.
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Those players are Dean Henderson, Dan Burn, Marc Guehi, Ezri Konsa, Nico O’Reilly, Elliot Anderson, Declan Rice, Morgan Rogers, Anthony Gordon, Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka.
That has given chances to plenty of lesser-used players to press their World Cup cases against Uruguay, with James Trafford, Tino Livramento, James Garner and Noni Madueke all in the starting XI.
Those who joined up with the group on Tuesday morning at St George’s Park were in a training session on Tuesday evening and the squad then trained at Wembley on Thursday.
John Stones is on the bench thanks to a calf issue, which presents the chance for the recalled Fikayo Tomori to start in defence.
There is also a first England appearance in a year-and-a-half for Manchester United centre-back Harry Maguire, who has been rewarded for his strong club form with a first call-up since September 2024.
Tuchel surprisingly called up Brighton’s second-choice goalkeeper Jason Steele, with the 35-year-old on the bench with Aaron Ramsdale and Jordan Pickford this evening.
Tuchel explained last week that Jude Bellingham, only just back from a hamstring injury, would benefit from team training but was not in contention to face Uruguay, with the “best case” being that the Real Madrid star plays some minutes against Japan.
Starting England XI: Trafford; Livramento, Maguire, Tomori, Spence; Garner, Henderson; Madueke, Foden, Rashford; Solanke
Subs: Pickford, Hall, Wharton, Stones, Palmer, White, Ramsdale, Mainoo, Calvert-Lewin, Barnes, Bowen, Steele
Rested: D Henderson, Burn, Guehi, Konsa, O’Reilly, Anderson, Rice, Rogers, Gordon, Kane, Saka, Bellingham
Time and date: 7.45pm GMT on Friday March 27, 2026
Venue: Wembley Stadium
How to watch: ITV1 and ITVX
