Scott poised to make England debut in World Cup friendlies

Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Alex Scott was named in Thomas Tuchel's provisional 55-man squad By Sami Mokbel Senior football correspondent in West Palm Beach, Florida Published 3 hours ago Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott is poised to make his England debut in the forthcoming World Cup warm-up games in the United States. Scott, Rio Ngumoha, Josh King, Jason Steele and Ethan Nwaneri have travelled as supplementary members of the England squad for their preparation camp in Florida. This comes as they await the arrivals of Arsenal quartet Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke and Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson following their involvement in European finals. Henderson is due to arrive in the next 24 hours, with the remaining four expected to report for duty over the weekend. It is understood that all five additional squad selections, despite not being picked in Thomas Tuchel's full squad for the World Cup, are eligible to play in the friendlies versus New Zealand and Costa Rica. The quintet will also stay in Florida for the duration of the camp and not head back when the remaining five players report for duty. Scott was named in Tuchel's provisional 55-man squad for the tournament, which means that from the five supplementary players, only he stands a chance of breaking into the full World Cup squad at this stage should any injuries occur. With that in mind, the 22-year-old has a strong chance to make his international debut in one of the upcoming friendlies before heading off for his summer break. Scott earned his senior first call-up for the November matches against Serbia and Albania but didn't make an appearance. Tuchel then left Scott out of the squad to face Japan and Uruguay in March before omitting him from his final 26-man World Cup party. But in explaining why he decided to bring five extra players to the US for their pre-tournament camp, the England head coach said: "I'm really happy these guys are with us, especially Alex, who was with us in the list of 55 and had a kind of disappointing phone call as well, that he didn't make the first cut. But the reaction of him was outstanding, the commitment, the wish to be in pre-camp and to just be a step closer to the team was not even a question for him. "He showed me his character and his spirit so I'm delighted that he's with us because it was a close call." Related topics Bournemouth Football England Men's Football Team FIFA World Cup 2026 More on this story World Cup fixtures and group standings How to watch the World Cup on the BBC Published 10 December 2025 Everything you need to know about the World Cup Published 1 April