Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite played twice for England in the recent international break
Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite during the match between England and Czechia at Wembley Stadium on October 6, 2026
Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite during the match between England and Czechia at Wembley Stadium on October 6, 2026(Image: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
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Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite has been backed to leapfrog a couple of his rivals in the England pecking order.
The Blues defender went into the latest international break with just one cap for the Three Lions courtesy of a 28-minute cameo coming off the bench over two years ago in a 3-0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina at St James’ Park on June 3, 2024.
However, he doubled his tally when coming on a minute from the end of the 3-2 defeat to World Cup winners Spain on September 26 then won a third cap with a 27-minute outing in the 3-0 success against Czechia on October 6, both at Wembley.
Branthwaite has been in fine form for David Moyes’ men so far this season and although the 24-year-old did not feature in either of their Carabao Cup ties, he has helped the side to keep Premier League clean sheets against Crystal Palace, Tottenham Hotspur and Ipswich Town. An England international of yesteryear has now backed him to come more into Thomas Tuchel’s thinking.
Alan Smith, who won 13 caps and scored two international goals, also lifted a brace of League championships with Arsenal plus the FA Cup, League Cup and European Cup-Winners’ Cup, netting 115 goals in 351 games. Speaking courtesy of BestBettingSites.co.uk, the 63-year-old said: “I thought actually Jarrad might get a bit more game time for England.
“He just came on as a sub. Jarell Quansah and Trevoh Chalobah both started.
“But listen, if Branthwaite continues like that next to James Tarkowski, I think he’s got a great chance of becoming maybe one of the first reserves. It looks like Ezri Konsa and Marc Guehi are settled first choices at the moment.
“But Jarrad has had a great start to the season. I really like him as a player, as a defender, and he might be able to leapfrog Quansah and Chalobah if he carries on like this.”
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