World Cup 2026: Most of England squad arrives in United States to begin final preparations - who's missing and why
With the World Cup just weeks away, most of the England squad has arrived in Miami - here’s who’s missing and why.
The England squad has arrived in the United States to begin their final preparations for this summer’s World Cup - hoping to end 60 years of hurt and win the title. The 26-man squad landed in Miami yesterday afternoon (June 1) ahead of the tournament, which gets underway on June 11, having left Birmingham for their warm-up camp.
Manager Thomas Tuchel’s team hope the flight marks the start of a journey that will end in glory on July 19, with the squad winning the World Cup for the first time since 1966. Tuchel has vowed to add a second star to the shirt this summer, but this will be one of the toughest assignments yet, given the conditions and logistics involved in a tournament spanning three countries and four time zones.
Five days of acclimatisation to the stifling heat – temperatures at their Palm Beach training camp are expected to be north of 30C – will be followed by a pre-tournament friendly against New Zealand in Tampa Bay on Saturday. Tuchel’s men then head to Orlando for a final warm-up game with Costa Rica on Tuesday week before a few days of rest and family time ahead of moving to their tournament base in Kansas City.
Those that did not fly will later join up with the group in the Sunshine State, including Arsenal’s Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke following Saturday’s Champions League final defeat to Paris St Germain.
On June 11, the tournament will get underway at the Estadio Banorte, in Mexico City, where the hosts will take on South Africa following the opening ceremony. England's campaign in Group L gets underway on June 17, when they take on old adversaries Croatia at the AT&T Stadium, in Arlington, Virginia, in a 9pm kick-off UK time.
That will be followed by a match-up with African giants Ghana on June 23 (9pm), before a final group game against Panama on June 27 (10pm). Before that, the Three Lions will take on New Zealand (June 6) and Costa Rica (June 10) in pre-tournament friendlies.
Scotland, meanwhile, start their Group C schedule on June 14, when they take on Haiti (2am), followed by a match-up against Morocco on June 19 (11pm), with the final group game coming against footballing giants Brazil on June 24 (11pm).