Nottingham Forest ace Morgan Gibbs-White was not included in Thomas Tuchel's England squad for the World Cup
11:17, 26 May 2026
Nottingham Forest's Morgan Gibbs-White
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Nottingham Forest's Morgan Gibbs-White(Image: Getty)
Morgan Gibbs-White says Thomas Tuchel praised his recent form for Nottingham Forest when he delivered the news about his England omission.
The Reds ace missed the cut for Three Lions boss Tuchel’s World Cup squad, despite a string of standout performances in the Garibaldi. A goal in Sunday’s season finale against Bournemouth, which finished 1-1, made it a total of 18 in all competitions for the campaign for Gibbs-White.
The No.10 was integral in dragging Forest to Premier League survival and was a big miss when injured for the Europa League semi-final second leg against Aston Villa. But amid strong competition in his position, Tuchel surprisingly opted to leave him off the plane to the United States for this summer's competition.
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“It was an incredible call. I respect him for going out of his way to explain to me why,” Gibbs-White told [Sky Sports](https://https://WORLD CUP LEGENDS: The stars who lit up football’s greatest tournament - Buy the Special Edition today) of his conversation with Tuchel regarding not making the squad.
“It was an honest conversation. I respect him for picking up the phone and telling me.
“It’s unfortunate, it’s disappointing but you have to take these losses and turn them into wins. I’ll bounce back from this stronger.
“He was just praising what I’d done these past six months, especially the last couple of months with how my performances were. That was it, really.
“It was just unfortunate other people were ahead of me. It is what it is. It’s an incredible squad and I think it’s my fault for picking the hardest position there is in England!
“I’m delighted with how the season has finished, it’s just unfortunate I didn’t get the call-up. I’ve jumped over many hurdles in my career and this will just be another one.”
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Gibbs-White’s Forest teammate Elliot Anderson did get the nod from Tuchel and will hope to play his part in a successful tournament for England. The group will receive plenty of support from back home as they bid to end the country’s silverware drought.
“Any kid’s dream growing up is to go to a World Cup or make the World Cup squad list. So yeah, I was really disappointed,” Gibbs-White added.
“But I was happy with how I performed toward the end of the season. I knew that, in myself, I couldn’t do any more.
“It’s obviously disappointing because it’s every kid’s dream to go to a World Cup. But I’m wishing all the boys all the luck and all the best wishes, because I genuinely believe this group is an incredible group of players and they’ve got everything they need to win it.”
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