Tuchel Questions Cole Palmer's Desire to Play for England

Thomas Tuchel has questioned how much Cole Palmer wants to play for England, saying the Chelsea forward keeps missing chances to do so. England's next games are Nations League matches against Croatia and Spain this November, according to BBC Sport.

Palmer is 24. A forward is an attacker whose job is to score and create goals. He has scored five goals and provided three assists in all competitions this season. For England, the numbers are much smaller. He has made three appearances under Tuchel, two of them starts, without a goal or an assist.

The trouble has been availability. Palmer missed Tuchel's first England camp in March 2025 with a hamstring injury, the muscle at the back of the thigh. He also dealt with a recurring groin problem through the September, October and November international breaks last season, which limited his club appearances early on. He last played for England in March, coming on as a substitute in a 1-1 draw with Uruguay and then starting against Japan.

Palmer was left out of England's World Cup squad, along with Phil Foden. Jude Bellingham, Morgan Rogers and Eberechi Eze were picked ahead of him. England went on to win bronze at the tournament, after losing to Argentina in the semi-finals. Bellingham was named England's player of the year for 2026 after scoring seven goals and providing one assist at the World Cup.

Palmer was called back for the extended September and October camp, but he withdrew before the Nations League games that followed. Reports at the time said Palmer, Marcus Rashford and Declan Rice were all ruled out of those fixtures. Tuchel then spoke publicly about the situation. He said Palmer "misses too many opportunities to play for England", according to Reuters. He also said he was unsure how desperate the player was to pull on the shirt, as Sky Sports reported. In a separate comment, Tuchel said Palmer had missed far too many England camps through injury.

For a player of Palmer's talent, the gap between club form and England selection is the story. Tuchel is picking from a pool of attacking midfielders who have been scoring and creating for England, and Palmer has been on the outside of that group for much of the past year. Whether his fitness holds across the coming months will decide how far he can close that gap.

Tuchel has made his point in public, and the next call-up will show whether it changes anything on the pitch.