During the first of their two pre-World Cup friendly matches, England faced New Zealand on Saturday. It was a match of little incident as Thomas Tuchel gave 22 players game time to help his squad acclimate to the US weather and pitch conditions.
In the end, a single goal from Harry Kane, who headed in a winner moments before half-time, was enough to settle things. As it was more of a training exercise than a real match, Tuchel seemed mostly happy that his players had come through the 90 minutes unscathed.
However, fans watching at home could not help but notice the lively cameo from Liverpool youngster Rio Ngumoha. He isn't in the Three Lions squad for the World Cup, and will not feature even if injuries force Tuchel into making a change from his original 26-man team.
Rio Ngumoha Among Four Youngsters In England Supplementary Group
Rio Ngumoha liverpool
It's not uncommon for a handful of players to travel to a World Cup despite not being in the actual playing squad. This is to help make up the numbers during training and is particularly useful for Tuchel right now as Arsenal contingent Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke, and Eberechi Eze have arrived at the camp later than the rest of the team due to their participation in the Champions League final.
Goalkeeper Dean Henderson will also join them, delayed after winning the Conference League with Crystal Palace. With those men absent, Ngumoha is among a small group – along with Alex Scott, Josh King and Ethan Nwaneri – who have travelled as supplementary members of the England squad.
Against New Zealand, Ngumoha, aged 17 years and 281 days, became the fifth-youngest player to debut for the England men’s team. On what was a pretty drab affair, he was arguably the brightest player on the pitch during the second half. He was even named as the Man of the Match.
As such, some fans were pleading with Tuchel to call him into the senior squad as a late addition ahead of the World Cup. However, this is not a possibility, and so the Liverpool starlet will fly home with the other youngsters after the final warm-up match against Costa Rica on 10 June.
England's Ivan Toney, Jordan Henderson, Harry Kane, Kobbie Mainoo and Ezri Konsa during training ahead of the World Cup Related
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Of course, it would be very harsh to suddenly drop a player in favour of Ngumoha. But many may hope for an injury to open up the door for a teenager. Even if this were the case, Tuchel would still have to look elsewhere for a replacement. This is because he was not called into the provisional 55-man squad submitted to FIFA by England. As per the Mirror, the strict FIFA eligibility rule explain:
"Under World Cup regulations, teams can call up a late injury replacement up to 24 hours before their opening match. However, the player must come from the provisional 55-man squad submitted to FIFA."
As Ngumoha was not included on that initial 55-man list, he cannot be added to the tournament squad under any circumstances. The same goes for Fulham and Arsenal duo King and Nwaneri. In fact, there is only one player from the group of four youngsters who could make it in at this late stage: Bournemouth star Alex Scott. He was named in the preliminary 55-man party, making him eligible for a late promotion should injury occur.
England have until 24 hours before their opening match against Croatia to make any changes should injury or illness befall anyone in the 26-man squad. After the tournament begins, FIFA rules state that only goalkeepers can be replaced in the event of an emergency.
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