Rashford included in England squad for World Cup qualifiers

LONDON (AP) — Thomas Tuchel praised Jordan Henderson as “a serial winner” in welcoming him and a resurgent Marcus Rashford back to the England team on Friday.

Tuchel included the pair in his first squad as England coach ahead of World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia at Wembley Stadium.

Both Henderson and Rashford missed out on last summer’s European Championship under then-coach Gareth Southgate and faced uncertain international futures.

But now they're contenders for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

“Jordan is, first of all, a serial winner,” Tuchel said of the Ajax midfielder. “What he brings to every team is leadership, character, personality, energy, make sure that everyone lives by the standards.”

The 34-year-old Henderson helped Liverpool win both the Champions League (2019) and Premier League (2020) before leaving in 2023 for Al-Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia. He lasted just six months there and transferred to Ajax, in part to face European competition in a bid to keep his place in the England team.

“Jordan brings everything — he embodies everything of what we want (for) this team to be,” Tuchel said at a news conference at Wembley.

The German coach seemed equally impressed by Rashford's recent performances with Aston Villa. The 27-year-old forward couldn't get into Ruben Amorim's team at Manchester United, but his loan to Villa has been a success.

“I felt that Marcus had a huge impact in Aston Villa,” Tuchel said.

“The impact was impressive — the physical impact was impressive," he added, "and most importantly the impact against the ball, his work rate, his defensive impact, his hard work in counter pressing, his tracking back on his position was impressive.”

Villa beat Club Brugge 3-0 on Wednesday to advance to the Champions League quarterfinals.

“I had the strong feeling that we should nominate him, we should bring him in to push him to stay on that level, to not fall back in old routines,” Tuchel said. “This camp is to bond with him, of course, to get to know him and push him to stay on exactly that level.”

Rashford joined Villa on loan the day before Europe’s winter transfer window closed, having not played for United since mid-December. Amorim had questioned Rashford’s commitment in training sessions.

Tuchel also included uncapped defenders Myles Lewis-Skelly and Dan Burn in his 26-man squad. Arsenal’s Lewis-Skelly is 18, while Newcastle’s Burn gets his first call-up at the age of 32.

England hosts Albania next Friday and Latvia three days later at Wembley Stadium.

“Everyone who is with us on this journey in the first camp is a contender for the World Cup,” Tuchel said.

While it's just the first step, he added: “It is important to be in the first camp.”

‘Crash course’ starts Monday

Tuchel, who led Chelsea to the Champions League title in 2021, was hired to get England over the line. The men's team's lone World Cup title was in 1966.

Under Southgate, England reached the semifinals of the 2018 World Cup and back-to-back finals at the Euros. Spain beat England 2-1 in the Euro 2024 final.

“We only have six camps, we only have 60 days. We need to take care of every single day and make sure that we are on point,” Tuchel said.

Harry Kane will remain the team captain, Tuchel confirmed.

The playing style will reflect the Premier League, he added.

“We should be brave enough to play like an England squad and should not try to copy other nations, other styles too much,” he said. "It should reflect the values of the country and of the strongest league in the world, which is the Premier League.

“We will try to increase our rhythm in our game, increase the intensity in our game,” he added, “and we will try to do it of course in a crash course from Monday and unleash the potential for Friday.”

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Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Southampton), James Trafford (Burnley)

Defenders: Dan Burn (Newcastle), Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Reece James (Chelsea), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal), Tino Livramento (Newcastle), Jarell Quansah (Liverpool), Kyle Walker (AC Milan)

Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), Curtis Jones (Liverpool), Jordan Henderson (Ajax), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa), Declan Rice (Arsenal)

Forwards: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Marcus Rashford (Aston Villa), Dominic Solanke (Tottenham)

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer