”

The Three Lions Squad for the Nations League preliminary matches  September-October 2026
Player	Birthdate	Age	Pos	Club	St	Sub	App
Alexander-Arnold, Trent J.	7 October 1998	27	RB	Real Madrid CF, Spain	27	8	35	4	0	2
Anderson, Elliot J.	6 November 2002	23	CM	Manchester City FC	17	3	20	0	0	1
Bellingham, Jude V.W.	29 June 2003	23	M	Real Madrid CF, Spain	45	14	59	14	0	10
Branthwaite, Jarrad P.	27 June 2002	24	CD	Everton FC	0	2	2	0	0	1
Calvert-Lewin, Dominic N.	16 March 1997	29	F	Leeds United AFC	5	8	13	4	0	1
Chalobah, Trevoh T.	5 July 1999 in Freetown, Sierra Leone	27	CD	Como 1907, Italy	2	1	3	0	0	None
Eze, Eberechi O.	29 June 1998	28	AM	Arsenal FC	5	19	24	3	0	None
Garner, James D.	13 March 2001	25	DM	Everton FC	1	3	4	0	0	None
	Garner replaced Rice on 21 September
Gibbs-White, Morgan A.	27 January 2000	26	AM	Nottingham Forest FC	0	9	9	0	0	None
	Gibbs-White replaced Palmer on 21 September
Gordon, Anthony M.	24 February 2001	25	F	Barcelona FC, Spain	21	7	28	7	0	1
Guéhi, A.K. Marc-Israel	13 July 2000 in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire	26	CD	Manchester City FC	35	5	40	1	1	6
Hall, Lewis K.	8 September 2004	22	LB	Newcastle United FC	3	3	6	0	0	None
Kane, Harry E.	28 July 1993	33	F	FC Bayern München, Germany	110	14	124	89	96	6
Konsa, Ezri N.	23 October 1997	28	R/CB	Arsenal FC	23	7	30	2	0	1
	Konsa withdrew from the squad on 5 October because of injury.
Lewis, Rico M.	21 November 2004	21	FB	Manchester City FC	4	1	5	0	0	1
	Lewis drafted into the squad from the under-21s on 4 October
Lewis-Skelly, Myles A.	26 September 2006	19	LB/M	Arsenal FC	7	2	9	1	0	1
Livramento, Valentino F.	12 November 2002	23	FB	Newcastle United FC	3	3	6	0	0	None
	Livramento withdrew from the squad on 21 September because of an injury
Mainoo, Kobbie B.	19 April 2005	21	CM	Manchester United FC	9	5	14	0	0	2
	Mainoo withdrew from the squad on 21 September because of an injury
Ngumoha Adigan, Rio B.R.	29 August 2008	18	LM	Liverpool FC	0	2	2	0	0	None
O'Reilly, Nico	21 March 2005	21	LB	Manchester City FC	10	3	13	0	0	2
	O'Reilly withdrew from the squad on 1 October because of injury.
Palmer, Cole J.	6 May 2002	24	AM	Chelsea FC	6	8	14	2	0	None
	Palmer withdrew from the squad on 21 September because of a minor injury
Pickford, Jordan L.	7 March 1994	32	G	Everton FC	92	0	92	62ᵍᵃ	0	1
Quansah, Jarell A.	29 January 2003	23	CD	Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Germany	7	1	8	0	0	1	1
Rashford, Marcus	31 October 1997	28	F	Manchester United FC	35	43	78	19	1	1
	Rashford withdrew from the squad on 21 September because of an injury
Rice, Declan	14 January 1999	27	M	Arsenal FC	75	5	80	8	3	8
					also has 3 Republic of Ireland appearances
	Rice withdrew from the squad on 21 September because of an injury
Rogers, Morgan E.	26 July 2002	24	M	Chelsea FC	12	13	25	2	0	None
Saka, Bukayo A.T.M.	5 September 2001	25	F	Arsenal FC	43	16	59	19	0	2
Scott, Alex J.	21 August 2003 in Guernsey	23	M	AFC Bournemouth	1	1	2	0	0	None
	Scott withdrew from the squad on 5 October because of injury.
Steele, Jason S.	18 August 1990	36	G	Brighton & Hove Albion FC	0	0	0	0ᵍᵃ	0	none
Trafford, James H.	10 October 2002	23	G	Leeds United FC	3	1	4	4ᵍᵃ	0	None

All information is complete to and including England's last match, the third of the 2026-27 season, against Croatia on 3 October 2026.

Diary

Friday, 13 February 2026 - England will have to play their Nations League game in Croatia behind closed doors. UEFA have confirmed no fans will be allowed for the match on Saturday, October 3, as part of a two-game punishment for Croatia because of previous crowd trouble. They were hit with a heavy fine and a ban on selling tickets to their own fans for their first away game and a complete ban for their first home game. UEFA took action against Croatia after trouble in their Nations League quarter final with France last year when objects were thrown, pyrotechnics used and chants.

Friday, 18 September 2026 - Thomas Tuchel has named his England squad for the first games of the 2026-27 season, as they begin a new UEFA Nations League campaign. The head coach has selected a 27-man squad for the four-game window, which takes place between 21 September and 6 October 2026. There’s a return to the squad for a number of players following the start of the new campaign with their clubs, with the likes of Cole Palmer, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Lewis Hall, Rio Ngumoha, Jarrad Branthwaite, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Alex Scott all selected. And there’s a place in the squad for Trent Alexander-Arnold, alongside his Real Madrid teammate Jude Bellingham. Goalkeeper Jason Steele, who remained with the World Cup squad in a coaching capacity, returns in the place of the injured Dean Henderson. Of those players who travelled to North America, Dan Burn, Jordan Henderson, Reece James Noni Madueke, Djed Spence, John Stones and Ollie Watkins, all miss out, whereas Phil Foden, Morgan Gibbs-White and Harry Maguire continue to be omitted.

Monday, 21 September 2026 - Tino Livramento, Kobbie Mainoo, Cole Palmer, Marcus Rashford and Declan Rice have all pulled out of the squad for forthcoming Nations League matches. Nottingham Forest midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White and Everton's James Garner have been called into the squad and will join the squad tomorrow. Tuchel had said that 26-year-old Gibbs-White was close to being included in the initial squad. Palmer, 24, had been recalled by Tuchel after being controversially left out of England's World Cup squad but has withdrawn with a minor injury. Manchester United duo Rashford and Mainoo have also pulled out. They were assessed by their club after being taken off in the closing stages of yesterdays 1-1 draw at Fulham. Rice, who played the full game for Arsenal in their 3-0 defeat by Brighton, will also be unavailable, along with Livramento, who has been limited to three substitute appearances for Newcastle United this season. The 24-year-old's withdrawal comes after he played the full game for Chelsea in their 3-0 defeat at Brentford on Friday.

Tuesday, 22 September 2026 - The squad gather at St. George's Park and have their first training session.

Wednesday, 23 September 2026 - 23 players are out training at St. George's Park in the afternoon/ Whilst Lewis Hall sits out the session, after suffering with a niggling injury, but they are joined by two under-19 players, Manchester City's Kaden Braithwaite and Spurs' Malachi Hardy.

Saturday, 26 September 2026 - England 2 Spain 3 - England's Nations League campaign got off to a losing start as they were beaten by World Cup holders Spain in an enthralling encounter at Wembley. Spain struck inside two minutes when Lamine Yamal was the beneficiary of Marc Guéhi's error and slotted past James Trafford. England then managed to survive several close calls before Anthony Gordon and Harry Kane scored in quick succession to give them an unlikely lead before half-time. However, Kane crucially missed a penalty early in the second half - after Jude Bellingham was brought down in the box - which left the door open for the visitors. Substitute Alex Baena took advantage of Nico O'Reilly's mistake to equalise before Mikel Oyarzabal concluded a clinical move with a beautifully dinked finish for the winner. Victory extends Spain's unbeaten run to 39 games, but England must learn lessons from this defeat.

Sunday, 27 September 2026 - A day of recovery at St. George's Park.

Monday, 28 September 2026 - Ezri Konsa and Nico O'Reilly are following their own individual programmes at Tottenham Hotspur's training ground in Enfield this morning, and both are doubts for the match against the Czech's tomorrow night. All other 22 players are involved in group training ahead of the squad departing for Prague Vaclav Havel Airport this afternoon. The squad leave Stanstead Airport at 4.17pm on board a Titan Airways Airbus A320-233 (AWC61) bound for Prague on Flight ZT61, arriving at 6.41pm, following an 84 minute flight.

Tuesday, 29 September 2026 - Nico O'Reilly has been ruled out of tonight's match, and Rio Ngumoha has been called up as his replacement into the 23-man matchday squad.
7.45pm - Czech Republic 0 England 2 - England secured the first win of their UEFA Nations League campaign as they overcame the stubborn resistance of 10-man Czech Republic in Prague. They were rarely threatened after the Czech Republic's most dangerous player Pavel Sulc was sent off after only 25 minutes for a high challenge on Elliot Anderson. Trent Alexander-Arnold, making his first England start since October 2024, made his mark with a brilliant delivery for Anthony Gordon to head home after 47 minutes. Gordon was prominent once more, forming a potent partnership with former Newcastle United team-mate Lewis Hall, who started at left-back. England had dominated, with Morgan Rogers hitting the woodwork in the first half and Czech captain Ladislav Krejci turning Hall's cross on to his own post after the break. The victory was confirmed after 69 minutes when captain Harry Kane scored his 87th goal in 123 England appearances with an emphatic left-foot finish after Czech defenders failed to clear.

Wednesday, 30 September 2026 - Following a morning of recovery, the squad depart Prague Vaclav Havel Airport at 12:06pm on board a Titan Airways Airbus A320-233 (AWC62) bound for Rijeka on Flight ZT61, arriving at 1:02pm, following a 56 minute flight.

Thursday, 1 October 2026 - Nico O'Reilly has returned to his club, Manchester City, for further assessment, and will take no further part in England's Nations League campaign this month.

Saturday, 3 October 2026 - Croatia 0 England 7 - England delivered arguably their most impressive performance under Thomas Tuchel as they produced a devastating attacking display to thrash Croatia in Rijeka. In an international that was labelled as behind closed doors as a sanction against Croatia supporters for previous bad behaviour, but which was attended by 6,000 schoolchildren and 100 visiting fans, rampant England ran riot to humiliate Slaven Bilic's side. England recovered from the opening defeat by Spain at Wembley with a deserved win against the Czech Republic in Prague – but moved on to a different level to destroy Croatia, 108 days after a 4-2 win against the same opposition at the World Cup in Dallas. Harry Kane put England ahead after eight minutes, ruthlessly punishing a mistake by Manchester City defender Josko Gvardiol by taking Jude Bellingham's pass in his stride to rifle a finish high past Croatia keeper Dominik Livakovic. Bellingham scored the second after 21 minutes, finishing from close range after Anthony Gordon did brilliantly to bring Bukayo Saka's cross under control at the far post. Gordon added the third himself, his fourth in four games, when he scored with a far post header from Jarell Quansah's perfect cross. As England pierced Croatia at will, Saka added the fourth on the stroke of half-time with another simple finish from Bellingham's delivery. England did not let up after the break, Kane scoring again eight minutes after the break, sliding in at the far post to turn in Elliot Anderson's cross. Croatia were not helping their own cause, more dreadful defending leaving Saka with a simple task to make it 6-0 and substitute Morgan Rogers getting in on the act to give the scoreline an even more emphatic look after rounding Livakovic. It completed a highly satisfactory night for Tuchel and England.
During the evening, the squad returned to England, departing Rijeka Airport ar 10.36pm on board the same Titain Airways Airbus A320-233. Flight ZT63 (AWC63). The flight time of just under two hours, arriving back at 10:57pm British Time at Stanstead Airport.

Monday, 5 October 2026 - Ezri Konsa and Alex Scott have both been ruled out of England's final match of the window against Czech Republic tomorrow night. Both have returned to their clubs. Scott is set to be out for six to eight weeks with a quadriceps issue. He felt the issue prior to England's demolition of Croatia on Saturday before being substituted.

England Form: last six games
W L W L W W  f 20:a 10 success: 75%
1088	11 July 2026 - Norway 1 England 2 [1-1]ᴭᵀ Hard Roack Stadium, Miami Gardens (64,478)	Schjelderup Bellingham (2)	WCF	NW
1089	15 July 2026 - England 1 Argentina 2 [0-0] Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta (68,239)	Gordon Fernández, Lt.Martínez		NL
1090	18 July 2026 - France 4 England 6 [0-4] Hard Rock Stadium, Florida (64,478)	Mbappé (2), Bracola, Dembélé Rice, Konsa, Saka (3 (1 pen)), Bellingham		NW
1091	26 September 2026 - England 2 Spain 3 [2-1] The National Stadium, Wembley (84,525)	Gordon, Kane Lamal, Baena, Oyarzabal	NLP	HL
1092	29 September 2026 - Czech Republic 0 England 2 [0-0] Fortuna Arena, Praha (18,930)	Gordon, Kane		AW
		Pavel Šulc
1093	3 October 2026 - Croatia 0 England 7 [0-4] Stadion Rujevića, Rijeka (6,342)	Kane (2), Bellingham, Gordon, Saka (2), Rogers		AW