Tuchel cuts Nwaneri, Ngumoha and two others as England move to Kansas City for Croatia opener

Thomas Tuchel has released four players from England’s World Cup camp — Alex Scott, Ethan Nwaneri, Rio Ngumoha and Josh King — as the squad wraps up its Florida training base and prepares to travel to Kansas City on Saturday ahead of their Group-stage opener against Croatia on Wednesday night.

All four were brought in specifically to bolster squad numbers during the pre-tournament camp rather than as part of the official 26-man selection. England played three warm-up matches during their time in Florida, winning all of them: a 1-0 victory over New Zealand last Saturday, a 3-0 defeat of Costa Rica on Wednesday, and a behind-closed-doors friendly against Miami FC that ended 6-0, with both Nwaneri and Ngumoha reportedly getting on the scoresheet.

England’s official social media accounts confirmed the departures with a message reading: “An important part of our preparations so far. Thanks to Alex Scott, Ethan Nwaneri, Rio Ngumoha and Josh King who depart at the conclusion of our camp in Florida.”

Tuchel had been candid about his reasons for including the quartet when they first joined up. “We will take some young players out who will train with us in the size of the squad that we need, and we have the two friendly matches to take care of the minutes and the load on the players,” the England head coach said.

He reserved particular praise for Scott, who had narrowly missed out on the final World Cup squad. “Alex was on the list of 55 and obviously he didn’t make the first cut, but the reaction of him was outstanding and the commitment and wish to be in pre-camp and a step closer to the team was not even a question for him,” Tuchel said. “That showed me his character and I’m delighted he’ll be with us because that was a close call and he gets a chance to get a step closer and a cap.”

With the warm-up programme now complete, Tuchel’s attention turns fully to Croatia. England kick off their World Cup campaign on Wednesday night, with the squad settling into their Kansas City base over the weekend before final preparations begin.