Luke Shaw is one of four Manchester United players in contention for a place in the England squad ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
Thomas Tuchel didn’t select one player from Manchester United in his latest England squad, meaning four players were overlooked.
There was room for one United loanee as Tuchel opens the door for Marcus Rashford to make the World Cup squad.
It remains to be seen if Tuchel will give the same chances to Mason Mount, Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire or Kobbie Mainoo.
Out of United’s quartet, hopeful of a place in the World Cup squad, Mainoo has played fewer games than the other three and that only makes it more difficult for the young midfielder to impress Tuchel.
Tuchel has his eyes on Mount, a player he worked with at Chelsea, about getting back into the national team, but the 26-year-old is being made to wait for that chance.
The next international break takes place from 9-14 October, which means we will soon see if Tuchel changes his mind by adding players from United to his squad.
Ruben Amorim believes Luke Shaw deserves England call-up
Shaw has been a key player this season after recovering from injuries that kept him out for the majority of the 2024/25 campaign.
Although Shaw spent most of his career as a left-back, Amorim has opted to play the 30-year-old at centre-back in a back three.
United fans will be pleased to see Shaw remain injury-free after starting every Premier League game so far this season. The workload may ease once Lisandro Martinez returns to action.
Shaw struggled against Man City in the Manchester derby, but other than that, he has rarely put a foot out of place.
He came off in United’s 4-2 win over Brighton last Saturday, before Amorim confirmed Shaw was substituted after suffering from a virus in the days leading up to the game.
It is worth noting that Gareth Southgate included Shaw in his England squad for Euro 2024, but that was a controversial decision because the defender had missed the end of the season due to injury. That was Shaw’s most recent call-up.
Speaking to reporters, Amorim stressed that Shaw deserves a call-up off the back of recent form.
“It’s hard, it’s hard here, it’s hard in Portugal,” Amorim said.
“I have the same questions about the players, it’s really hard to choose the players. People point a finger at you if you are the national manager, if you choose this one or the other one.
“And England has a lot of good players, and you can choose two teams to win a World Cup, I know it’s tough for you guys, it’s harder than Portugal, but it’s an opinion.”
Amorim added: “It’s the way you play, it’s the way you see the opponents you have. In the next two games, it will change what kind of player you want to call up. So I think he deserves it, but also a lot of players deserve to be back.
“For me, I want him to go to the national team, but I also want Luke Shaw to train with me, recover with me, and be prepared for my game, so I’m a little bit selfish on that, so if he’s not going to the national team, for me it’s fine, because I can control better what he’s doing.”
Amorim makes a good point that United can benefit when players are not selected for their countries, but he knows that is not how many footballers look at it. The 2026 World Cup may be Shaw’s final attempt to represent the Three Lions on the biggest international stage.
What has Thomas Tuchel said about Luke Shaw?
Tuchel was asked by reporters why he overlooked Shaw in October.
Shaw had been playing well for United, but now he has more credit in the bank because the Red Devils are winning matches and climbing up the Premier League table.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 4 |  SunderlandSunderland | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 17 |
| 5 |  Manchester CityManchester City | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 7 | 10 | 16 |
| 6 |  Manchester UnitedManchester United | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 14 | 1 | 16 |
| 7 |  LiverpoolLiverpool | 9 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 16 | 14 | 2 | 15 |
| 8 |  Aston VillaAston Villa | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 15 |
Tuchel admitted it was a ‘very close call’ and acknowledged that Shaw was looking ‘fit’.
“It was a very close call,” said Tuchel, as quoted by the Manchester Evening News.
“I just want him to have a little bit more minutes. He looks very fit.
“He looks very determined. I think he has the quality, the experience to play and to make us better straight away. But I want to keep him back a little bit, when he has more rhythm than he has right now.”
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