Foden's World Cup absence could be the reset his career desperately needs

Phil Foden will not be in Kansas with England’s World Cup squad after Thomas Tuchel omitted the Manchester City midfielder from his final 2026 tournament selection — a decision that stung, but one that may ultimately benefit the 26-year-old more than any group-stage fixture could.

Foden was a central figure in England’s run to the Euro 2024 final, but the cumulative toll of back-to-back international summers has been visible ever since. He returned from Germany jaded, and while he showed flashes of his best form in January 2025, he was a long way from the player who scored 19 Premier League goals the previous season.

Rather than receiving the extended rest he clearly needed after Euro 2024, Foden was among the City players sent to the United States for the expanded Club World Cup, adding roughly another month to an already stretched campaign. He contributed three goals in four appearances at the tournament, but the additional matches compounded the physical and mental load he was already carrying.

The 2025-26 season brought little relief. Foden managed a productive spell in December but failed to score a single Premier League goal in the calendar year of 2026. That drought cost him his place in Pep Guardiola’s first-choice plans during the decisive weeks of the domestic season, and ultimately his spot on the plane to North America.

The pattern across both seasons points to something beyond a temporary dip in form. Foden has looked mentally fatigued — a player running on diminishing reserves rather than the instinctive brilliance that made him one of the most exciting attackers in European football. The relentless expansion of the football calendar, driven largely by FIFA’s commercial ambitions, has left elite players with almost no genuine off-season, and Foden stands as one of its most prominent casualties.

This summer, for the first time in several years, he will have one. No tournament preparation, no late-July return to pre-season with a World Cup hangover. Just time away from the game.

For a player of Foden’s quality and age, a proper reset could be exactly what is needed to rediscover the sharpness and confidence that once made him undroppable for both club and country. The World Cup absence is a blow — but the rest that comes with it may prove to be the most important thing that happens to his career this year.