Harry Maguire Reflects on Tuchel's FaceTime Call About Euros
Harry Maguire has revealed the brutally modern way Thomas Tuchel told him he would not be going to the Euros – a brief, awkward FaceTime call that left the defender stunned after what he believed was a resurgent finish to his season.
Speaking on The Rest is Football podcast, the Manchester United centre-back laid out the moment his England hopes were cut short. No meeting at St George’s Park. No handshake in a hotel lobby. Just a message on his phone.
“I received a text saying can I speak to you about 4pm,” Maguire said. Tuchel then rang via FaceTime. “It was quite an awkward call. It is quite a unique way of doing it and it must be quite hard because he can see everyone's reactions.”
There was no attempt from Maguire to hide his feelings.
“I said straightaway I was really disappointed,” he admitted. “I thought I did enough to be in the squad and thought I could have helped and had a part to play on and off the pitch.”
Tuchel, he explained, offered no tactical justification or fitness issue as a shield. Just a blunt explanation of loyalty.
“He said he can't give me an excuse but he had gone with the four lads who got him through the autumn.”
For a player with 66 caps and a history of delivering in major tournaments, it cut deep. Maguire had expected the March camp under Tuchel – his first under the new manager – to be the start of a fresh chapter, not a false dawn.
“It was tough to take,” he said. “I did think I would be in the squad after being selected for the March camp under him for the first time. I did really well in both games and then went back to Manchester United and finished the season really strongly.”
The numbers on his England career underline why the omission stings. Maguire has been a constant presence at the back through runs to a World Cup semi-final and a Euros final, one of the pillars around which recent tournament campaigns have been built. To be cut adrift via a video call, after feeling he had played his way back into form, adds another layer of frustration.
Yet there is no sulking in public, no distancing himself from the group. Maguire has stayed close to the core of the dressing room, keeping in regular contact with senior figures such as Harry Kane, Declan Rice and Jordan Pickford to offer his support from the outside.
His international story, he insists, is not over. Tuchel is under contract through to Euro 2028, but Maguire is not planning any grand retirement statement.
“I don't think I would retire from England. I still feel I have something to offer,” he said. “There will be a time and a place where I don't deserve to get picked but I probably still wouldn't come out and retire. If I got one more cap it would be worth it.”
For now, he watches on, 66 caps behind him, one more still driving him. Whether that final appearance ever comes will say plenty about how ruthless this new England era is prepared to be.
