{"id":1290,"date":"2026-03-20T14:33:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T14:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/?p=1290"},"modified":"2026-03-20T14:33:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T14:33:08","slug":"hes-in-the-spotlight-thomas-tuchel-makes-big-claim-on-calling-up-arsenal-talent-max-dowman-to-englands-world-cup-squad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/?p=1290","title":{"rendered":"\u201cHe\u2019s in the spotlight\u201d &#8211; Thomas Tuchel makes big claim on calling up Arsenal talent Max Dowman to England\u2019s World Cup squad"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"5141758\" data-slug-id=\"2754700\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/cmc-predictor\/v2\/cross-icon.png?w=40\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" alt=\"close\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Thomas Tuchel has hinted that Arsenal youngster Max Dowman has the chance of receiving a maiden call-up for England\u2019s 2026 World Cup squad.<\/p>\n<p>The England national team boss named his 35-man squad today, March 20, for the upcoming international window. The Three Lions will first face Uruguay on March 27 at Wembley before hosting Japan on the same ground four days later.<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"template__newsletter-inline-banner-form-combo-widget\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<p><img id=\"subscribe-img\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Thanks for the submission!\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>Following his heroics in Arsenal\u2019s 2-0 win against Everton, many expected Dowman to get to surprise call up for the friendlies. While Dowman wasn\u2019t named in the group, Tuchel did not rule out the chances of the 16-year-old forcing his way into the squad for the World Cup.<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cHe is in the spotlight now,\u201d Tuchel told a press conference on Friday. \u201cHe is an outstanding talent, everyone who tells me about Max praises him and is full of compliments. The reality is at the minute, he is competing for minutes and is not a regular starter for Arsenal. I think he\u2019s in a fantastic environment at a competitive club, a stable club, a club where teamwork is the no1 role.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cHe learns from the best. With these young guys, we see these players as you do as well. At the moment he is in a good place to fight for minutes and fight for his place at Arsenal and we always have the chance to maybe call him up for the World Cup. The thing with young players is to keep the momentum going and keep their excitement. They have a level of fearless but no need to call him up now and increase the pressure and the noise that comes with it.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Dowman made history in the Premier League on March 14, 2026, after sealing a 2-0 win for Arsenal. In the process, he became the youngest ever player to score in the English top flight.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Arsenal\u2019s Max Dowman tipped to earn first England cap<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Max Dowman will represent the England national team, according to Joleon Lescott, who believes the youngster \u2018has got the chance of being a world-class talent\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to All Out Football, Lescott suggested that Liverpool&#8217;s Rio Ngumoha could be the first to make his debut for the Three Lions but backed Dowman to also play for the country\u2019s senior team.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cGoing back to Max, he&#8217;s definitely going to play for England,\u201d Lescott said. \u201cAnd we were speaking about, he has got a chance, he&#8217;s got a chance of being a world-class talent, 100 per cent. But I don&#8217;t know who he&#8217;s ahead of to not go (to the World Cup).\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>So far, Dowman has represented England\u2019s U16, U17, and U19 sides. His most recent appearance was for the U19 side in November 2021 in the EURO U19 Championship Qualifiers.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\" title=\"like article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\" title=\"dislike article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Thank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tag-cloud\">\n<div class=\"tags-text\">\n<div class=\"scrollable-content-holder  article-padding\">\n<p class=\"article-p  \">Quick Links<\/p>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerLeft\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Left \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-left.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<nav id=\"pnProductNav\" class=\"pn-ProductNav\">\n<\/nav>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerRight\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Right \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-right.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<p>More from Sportskeeda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Ezekiel Olamide<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thomas Tuchel has hinted that Arsenal youngster Max Dowman has the chance of receiving a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1291,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}