England completed a perfect qualification campaign against Albania on Sunday – and Thomas Tuchel has been told why Jack Grealish should be in his World Cup squad
Thomas Tuchel has been told why Jack Grealish should be in his England World Cup squad(Image: (Carl Recine/Getty Images))
Thomas Tuchel has been told why he should select Jack Grealish in his England World Cup squad after Wayne Rooney claimed the Everton man’s hopes were already dead and buried. England completed a perfect World Cup qualification campaign against Albania on Sunday as Harry Kane’s late brace secured Tuchel’s side an eighth victory without conceding.
However, there was no place for Grealish in the German’s latest squad, and he has not played for his country for over a year, with the most recent of his 39 total caps coming in October 2024. But speaking after the game at the Air Albania Stadium, Tuchel offered hope to Grealish and others that they may still go to next summer’s World Cup finals by revealing he would re-engage with the 55 to 60 players on his longlist, which he developed when he started the job in January.
And former Man City forward Paul Dickov believes Grealish, who, by his own admission, has fallen back in love with football since joining Everton on loan in the summer, would be the perfect player to make an impact off the bench next summer.
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“I love Jack,” Dickov told Best Betting Bonuses. “I love him as a player, I love him as a person and it’s great to see him back enjoying his football again.
“Last season he will openly admit that it wasn’t his best. The season before, he struggled with injuries. But then that treble-winning season, he was consistently Man City’s best player in that.
“In all the big games, European games, he was the one that turned up and really produced. It’s just great to see him enjoying his football again at Everton, playing every weekend.
“He’s got the talent, he’s got the ability and if he keeps showing that on a consistent basis, which he has done already this season, I think he’s got a great chance.
Jack Grealish and David Moyes after the match between Everton and Fulham at Hill Dickinson Stadium on November 8, 2025(Image: Emma Simpson/Everton FC Official Photography Library/SmartFrame)
“In big games, if England wants to kill games at any time, then there’s no better player to have to come off the bench than Jack to get you up the pitch.
“He wins fouls to disrupt play, and he’s a special talent at doing that. There’s nobody in the England squad that can do what Jack can do.
“So I really hope he continues his wonderful form and he gets his chance because I know he’s desperate to get back into that England squad.”
Grealish has enjoyed a strong start to life at Hill Dickinson Stadium, producing five goal contributions in the Premier League, but that didn’t stop Rooney from telling him last week that his World Cup hopes look bleak and he should ‘book his holiday for the summer now’.
“Jack Grealish may as well book his holiday for the summer now because he’s not getting in the squad,” he said on the Wayne Rooney show.
“You’d think Anthony Gordon dropped out and he still doesn’t get called into it, so I think Thomas Tuchel is quite set.”
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