With the 2026 World Cup fast approaching on the horizon, there is growing talk about just who Thomas Tuchel will choose in his England squad. People will have their favourites, but only 23 players will get the chance to represent the Three Lions this summer.
Some big names will have to miss out, and depending on how the final months of the season go, there might even be a surprise inclusion or two. One name that has started to grow momentum is Arsenal youngster Max Dowman.
Still too young to even get changed in the same dressing room as his teammates, the teenager became the Premier League’s youngest-ever goalscorer with a remarkable stoppage-time strike against Everton. Bagging the goal at just 16 years and 73 days, there are some who think the top talent should be on the plane heading to the World Cup.
Tuchel even refused to rule Dowman out of contention, recently saying: "He put himself in the spotlight with this amazing goal against Everton. I think he is at the moment, obviously a fantastic talent and an outstanding talent," Before adding: "At the moment I think he is in a good place to fight for his minutes at Arsenal. We always have the chance to call him maybe up for the World Cup."
Theo Walcott Opens Up "Tricky" Teenage World Cup Experience
England's Frank Lampard, David Beckham, Theo Walcott, and Jamie Carragher look dejected
Interestingly enough, Arsenal have had another teenage starlet make an England World Cup squad before. Indeed, in 2006, when Theo Walcott was still only 17 years of age, Sven-Goran Eriksson made the shock call to include him in his team for the tournament in Germany.
At that stage, Walcott had yet to even play in the Premier League. Despite this, he travelled to the 2006 World Cup. Years later, the now-retired winger would talk about how it wasn't a good thing for his development.
Walcott spoke on Sky Sports, via Daily Mail, explaining: "You think of players and we still call them young at 22, 23.
"I've said this clearly for many years that I should never have gone - there were other players that had experience and had played at the highest level and I was new to the game.
"All the circus that came with it, I didn't want to be a part of. For me, it was all about playing and enjoying my football. It was a really tricky moment when I was consoling people like John Terry who won many things and had many caps for England. And I'm a 17-year-old boy who's thinking I shouldn't even be here.'
The former Arsenal star didn't actually get on the pitch, and he actually failed to ever play at a World Cup despite earning 47 caps for England in total. He claimed that he might have got on the pitch in 2006, but Wayne Rooney's quarter-final red card against Portugal scuppered those plans:
"The disappointment bit was not actually playing. I might have got on had Waz not got sent off but that was the passion he played with. It didn't work for me in the end but what I did learn from it was that I enjoyed the football."
Jamie Carragher Agreed That World Cup Call Was Bad for Walcott
Jamie Carragher Sky Sports
Former England international Jamie Carragher was part of the England team to play at the 2006 World Cup, and he agreed that Walcott's call-up was not the best thing for the youngster's career. He spoke about how it may have hindered the winger's development:
"I don't think it did you any favours as a player. People are thinking 'we've got the next Michael Owen or Pele won the World Cup at 17' and you're thinking 'he must be out of this world, world class, one of the best players England have ever seen'.
"I think that put undue pressure on you in terms of your career."
Max Dowman of Arsenal Related
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He might be one of the most talented teenagers on the planet, but the dressing room is off-limits for him.
Walcott went on to have a fine career at club level, winning three FA Cups with Arsenal and scoring 108 goals for the Gunners, as well as eight more for the Three Lions. Even so, for many, it will feel as though he never quite lived up to the hype that was perhaps unfairly put on him as a youngster.