Phil Foden handed brutal World Cup 2026 warning after Thomas Tuchel admission

Phil Foden has had a difficult season at Manchester City but started both England's matches against Uruguay and Japan - however, he failed to make any real impact and is facing missing out on the World Cup

England boss Thomas Tuchel admits Phil Foden is "struggling" on the pitch as he warned the Manchester City star faces missing out on a World Cup place.

Foden, 25, has 49 Three Lions caps to his name after starting both Wembley warm up friendlies against Uruguay and Japan. However, the City forward was substituted before the hour mark in both games.

Tuchel says Foden is "not guaranteed" a place in his 26-man finals squad, with England's head coach saying that while he was excellent in training during camp, he failed to live up to expectations where it mattered.

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“He tried everything," said Tuchel. "I would say he was excellent in camp but, yeah, he struggles to show it on the pitch. Obviously he didn’t have a lot of minutes for City recently.

“Then he came to camp with the brightest smile and was so good in training and I thought he will just surprise us and will play with the same verve and excitement but, yeah, he struggles to have the full impact.”

Tuchel insists he has no problem taking a player out of form to the World Cup if he believes it's the right decision to do so.

Asked about doing precisely that he said: "I can, I can! The question will be if we will."

But when asked specifically about taking an out-of-form Foden to the finals, he brutally admitted: "Well it's not a guarantee that he will come."

Foden went to Euro 2024 as the Premier League Player of the Year after an outstanding season for City - arguably the best of his career. Since then however, he has struggled for form and fitness.

And while this term he has made 26 Premier League appearances for City, the general consensus is that he's largely been some way below his best. He's scored seven league goals so far, but none since December 14, and six of those seven came in a four-match spell.

Now, with Rayan Cherki increasingly prominent at the Etihad, he's no longer a guaranteed starter for Pep Guardiola.

For England, Jude Bellingham and Morgan Rogers are Tuchel's first choices in the No.10 position, while Eberechi Eze and Cole Palmer are both in the mix too. Throw in Bukayo Saka, Anthony Gordon, Marcus Rashford, Noni Madueke and Jarrod Bowen, and there's fierce competition for the attacking midfield roles.

That means it's almost certain Tuchel will have to leave at least one of the big names at home this summer - and increasingly it looks like Foden is most at risk.