Phil Foden Aims for England Recall as Tuchel Silence Continues
Phil Foden says he is aiming for an England recall, and that Thomas Tuchel has not spoken to him since the World Cup. The Manchester City attacking midfielder, a player who works between the opposition's midfield and their strikers, made the comments on 3 November. He said he hopes the call-up will come back.
England's manager left Foden out of the squad for the summer's World Cup. He also left him out of England's Nations League squads this season. The Nations League is a competition between national teams, played in the gaps between club seasons. Foden has 49 England caps, which means 49 appearances for his country.
Tuchel's decision has been the talking point around Foden for months. A Reuters report from April had the England manager saying Foden could not be sure of a place in the World Cup squad. Foden has now said the two men have not been in contact since the tournament ended.
On the club side, Foden has scored four goals this season. One of them came in a hat-trick, three goals in a single match, against AEK Athens in City's last Champions League game. He was sent off after 23 minutes of City's 1-0 win at Manchester United in September, which brought a three-match ban.
City's season has also had its bumps. They lost 1-0 to Brighton, their first game this season in which they failed to score. Their manager, Enzo Maresca, said the team cannot rely on Erling Haaland to score in every match, and that the rest of the squad must find the net too.
Haaland, the Norwegian striker, has 13 goals in all competitions this season. That is seven more than Rayan Cherki, the next-highest scorer for City. The club have 36 goals in total so far.
Foden's own high point came in 2023-24, when he scored 27 goals in a season. That is still his career best. City face RB Leipzig in the Champions League on Wednesday, 4 November, and Foden will want to add to his tally.
For Foden, the goals are the case he has to make. Tuchel has not said publicly whether that case will change his mind, and the next England squad will show where things stand.
