Arsenal's Eze, Rice, Saka and Madueke join England squad after Premier League parade

Eberechi Eze, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke have joined the England squad in Florida ahead of the 2026 World Cup, having been granted additional recovery time following Arsenal’s Champions League final penalty shootout defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in Budapest and the club’s Premier League title parade the following day.

Arsenal ended a 22-year wait to lift the Premier League trophy, edging out Manchester City to the title — a triumph that manager Thomas Tuchel believes will have eased the burden on his players despite the heartbreak of losing the European final.

“Of course it’s painful for Ebs but of course I will take care of it, the group will take care of him and I think the extra week they had will help a lot,” Tuchel said of Eze, who missed a crucial penalty in the shootout against PSG. “I’m very happy that they got the title in England. I think that took a lot of weight off their shoulders.”

Tuchel added that he does not expect to need to lift the quartet’s spirits significantly. “They’ve absolutely had a great season. I always happy to do it if I have to but they should know that a final just comes down to one or two shots in a penalty shoot-out — which means it cannot be closer. But it also means you were absolutely on the same level with maybe the best team in the world at the moment.”

England had already played their first warm-up fixture without the Arsenal contingent, beating New Zealand 1-0 in Tampa on Saturday with Tuchel using two different XIs across the two halves. All four players are now available for the second warm-up match against Costa Rica on Wednesday.

England open their World Cup campaign against Croatia before further group-stage fixtures against Ghana on 23 June and Panama on 27 June.