Snubbed by Tuchel, Maguire heads to World Cup as Netflix pundit instead

Harry Maguire will attend the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico not as an England player but as a pundit on Gary Lineker’s Netflix programme The Rest is Football, after Thomas Tuchel omitted the Manchester United defender from his tournament squad.

Maguire, 33, reacted publicly to the snub on Instagram, writing: “I was confident I could have played a major part this summer for my country after the season I’ve had. I’ve been left shocked and gutted by the decision. I’ve loved nothing more than putting that shirt on and representing my country over the years. I wish the players all the best this summer.”

Tuchel has instead selected Marc Guehi, Ezri Konsa, Jarrel Quansah, Dan Burn and John Stones as his central defensive options for the tournament. Maguire had reportedly expected a call-up following an impressive domestic campaign, particularly under manager Michael Carrick at United.

The show confirmed Maguire’s involvement in an official statement: “Hosts Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards will be joined on the show by regular guest Joe Cole, alongside a standout line-up of special guests including Harry Maguire, Frank Lampard, Millie Bright, Patrick Vieira, Romesh Ranganathan and Niall Horan, with more to come.”

The Rest is Football will run as a daily television show on Netflix throughout the tournament, beginning on 10 June. Maguire and the wider panel are set to broadcast from a studio in Times Square, New York.

It marks a significant absence for a player who featured at the 2018 World Cup, Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup. He was also left out of Gareth Southgate’s final England squad for Euro 2024 after failing to recover from a calf injury in time.

England open their World Cup campaign against Croatia on 17 June, before facing Ghana on 23 June and Panama on 27 June to close out their group stage.