Harry Maguire's World Cup Omission: A Disappointing Surprise
Harry Maguire cuts a calm figure these days, but the wound is still fresh.
One of Manchester United’s standout performers in the 2025/26 run-in, the 33-year-old defender expected his form and experience to carry him onto the plane for the World Cup. Instead, Thomas Tuchel left him at home, preferring Dan Burn, Jarell Quansah, Ezri Konsa, Marc Guehi and John Stones.
For a player who has lived every high and low in an England shirt, the omission stung.
“It was a surprise… I was really disappointed”
Speaking on The Rest is Football with Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Joe Cole, Maguire didn’t dress it up.
“No, it was a surprise at the time,” he said. “I said straight away that it was a surprise. I was really disappointed. I thought I did enough to be in the squad and I thought I could have helped the lads out there.”
This wasn’t a veteran clinging to past glories. Maguire had finished the season strongly for United, anchoring their defence during the business end of the campaign. He felt he still had a role to play – not just in the dressing room, but on the pitch.
“I thought I would have still had a part to play on the pitch and off the pitch as well,” he added. “So no, I was disappointed at the time, but the manager’s made a decision and he’s gone with his 26 and it’s part of football and I’ll move on quick from here.”
The words are measured. The frustration underneath them is obvious.
Tuchel’s FaceTime call and a “unique” approach
Maguire also lifted the lid on how Tuchel broke the news. No brief text. No delegated assistant. The England manager chose a more direct – and, as Maguire put it, “awkward” – route.
“No, he speaks to everyone, to be fair,” Maguire explained. “So he FaceTimes everyone… Yeah, it’s quite an awkward call… I think he FaceTimes everybody. It’s quite a unique way to do it. It makes it harder probably for himself to see our reactions and things like that.”
It is a modern twist on an old ritual: the call every player dreads in a tournament year. This time, it came through a phone screen, the manager looking his defender in the eye as he told him there would be no World Cup this time.
No real excuse – just a choice
When the conversation turned to the reasons behind the decision, Maguire’s account was stark.
On whether Tuchel offered him a clear explanation, he said: “He really said that he can’t really give me an excuse, but I think he said that he’s gone with the four lads that he got through the qualifying in the autumn, in the autumn camps where he felt like they did well during them six games.
“But he did say that he can’t really give me an excuse. But listen, that’s football. It was tough to take.”
In the end, it came down to loyalty to the defenders who had carried England through the qualifying campaign. Tuchel backed his autumn group and left out a man who has been a pillar at major tournaments for years.
Tough to argue with? Maybe. Tough to accept? Absolutely.
A World Cup that may never come again
The hardest part for Maguire is the sense that this might have been his last shot.
“I was really disappointed. I wanted to go to the World Cup and play. I’m 33 now, so 37 at the next World Cup. It looks far away,” he admitted.
This wasn’t about demanding a starting place, either. That, more than anything, underlines the depth of his frustration.
“So I wanted to go, not just play, but like I told the manager, I wasn’t demanding to go and start the games. I’d have been happy to play one minute as long as I was there with the lads. So no, it was disappointing.”
For a player who has ridden out criticism, reclaimed his place at club level and delivered for his country on the biggest stages, being told there was “no excuse” – just no room – cuts deep.
Maguire insists he will move on quickly. The real question is whether England have already moved on from one of their most battle-scarred tournament defenders, or whether this is a door that might yet creak open one last time.
