West Ham United star Jarrod Bowen struggled to impress Thomas Tuchel as England ran out 3-0 winners against Latvia at Wembley Stadium on Monday night.
The Three Lions continued their excellent start to the 2026 World Cup qualifier courtesy of a sublime free kick from Reece James, capped off by second-half goals from Harry Kane and Eberechi Eze.
After a 16-minute cameo in the 2-0 win against Albania last week, Bowen was handed a spot in the first team as Tuchel made four changes to his starting line-up.
However, the Hammers skipper huffed and puffed for an hour before he was taken off for Eze, who only needed 16 minutes to make his mark as he weaved through the Latvia defence before slotting home his first England goal.
Eze’s cameo performance doesn’t bode well for Bowen, who failed to make the most of his chance to leave a lasting impression on Tuchel with a 5/10 performance at Wembley.
There’s no doubt he’ll get another chance to impress when England resume their World Cup qualifiers in June, but the national media was far from impressed with the Hammers skipper’s display.
According to BBC, Bowen “showed plenty of effort, but it didn’t quite click for the West Ham forward. He is a quality player, but has to take his chances when given them in an area of the pitch where England have lots of options.”
The Evening Standard doubled down on the BBC’s comments, saying: “The West Ham captain was quiet for the hour he played at Wembley.”
Bowen had 49 touches and recorded three key passes. He also completed 25/27 passes with a 93% accuracy but only found a teammate with one of his six crosses.
He won just two of his five ground duels and lost possession 10 times while failing to muster a shot on goal.
West Ham head coach Graham Potter will hope Bowen can shake off his lacklustre display for England when he returns to the London Stadium.
The Hammers have nothing to fight for in the remaining nine games, but Potter will be keen for his side to end a tumultuous campaign on a high.