Tottenham full-back Djed Spence and Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson have received their first senior England call-ups in Thomas Tuchel’s squad for the Three Lions’ World Cup qualifiers in September.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, who left Liverpool for Real Madrid in the summer, has been left out after featuring in Tuchel’s previous squad.
Alexander-Arnold was not in the starting line-up for Madrid’s 3-0 LaLiga win at Real Oviedo on Sunday.
England host Andorra at Villa Park on September 6 and visit Serbia three days later.
Anderson, Livramento and Wharton all in #ENG squad. Djed Spence in. Rashford in. No Walker. #ENG pic.twitter.com/3RU1C0myqg
— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) August 29, 2025
Full England squad for September 2025 World Cup qualifiers
Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford, Dean Henderson, James Trafford
Defenders: Dan Burn, Marc Guehi, Reece James, Ezri Konsa, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Tino Livramento, Djed Spence, John Stones
Midfielders: Elliot Anderson, Morgan Gibbs-White, Jordan Henderson, Declan Rice, Morgan Rogers, Adam Wharton
Forwards: Jarrod Bowen, Eberechi Eze, Anthony Gordon, Harry Kane, Noni Madueke, Marcus Rashford, Ollie Watkins
Elliot Anderson stats: Forest, England
Anderson joined Newcastle’s youth set-up in 2010, making his debut in an FA Cup defeat to Arsenal as an 18-year-old in January 2021 and receiving his Premier League bow in a loss to the same opponents later that month.
A productive loan spell to Bristol Rovers in 2021/22 ended in promotion from League Two, and Anderson made 27 appearances for Newcastle the following season, starting each of their final three league games.
He became a regular in 2023/24 but missed 25 matches with a back injury, also featuring in Euro Under-21 qualifying for England.
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe relucantly allowed Anderson to join Forest for £35 million in June 2024 because the Magpies were under pressure to sell players in order to comply with Premier League spending rules.
Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo played Anderson in all but two games in 2024/25, making 33 league starts before playing an important role in England’s Under-21 Euro title defence, including a goal in their 3-1 quarter-final win over Spain.
Djed Spence stats: Tottenham, England
Fulham youth product Spence made his breakthrough after joining Middlesbrough in 2018, debuting for the club in December 2019.
A loan spell to Nottingham Forest ended in promotion to the Premier League and a place in the Championship team of the season, tempting Spurs to pounce for £20 million in July 2022.
Loan spells with Rennes in 2022/23 and Leeds United in 2023/24 were both hindered by knee injuries, but he made 18 appearances for Serie A club Genoa during the second half of the latter season.
Helped by Tottenham’s considerable injury list, Spence became a regular Spurs starter from December 2024, although he scarcely featured between the quarter-finals and final of their triumphant Europa League campaign.
Spence has been ever-present in new manager Thomas Frank’s first three games and made six England Under-21 appearances between March 2022 and March 2023, including two starts in Euro qualifiers.
Trent Alexander-Arnold: England drop full-back
Alexander-Arnold has only featured for 26 minutes under Tuchel, missing the German’s first two games with an ankle injury but coming on during the win in Andorra in Spain on June 7.
The 26-year-old was an unused substitute for the 3-1 friendly defeat to Senegal at the City Ground on June 10.
The 34-cap international started England’s first two games at Euro 2024 as former boss Gareth Southgate experimented with using his passing skills in central midfield, but barely featured during his country’s subsequent five games at the finals.
Interim coach Lee Carsley used Alexander-Arnold throughout England’s ensuing four Nations League games in September and October, with the Liverpool academy product scoring in a 3-1 win in Finland before being ruled out for two games with a hamstring injury.
England World Cup qualifiers: What group are they in?
England are in Group K alongside Albania, Latvia, Andorra and Serbia. Of those opponents, Serbia’s standing of 32 at the start of qualifying made them by far the highest-ranked team Tuchel’s side will face.
Serbia proved tricky opponents at Euro 2024, with only a Jude Bellingham goal separating the teams in their opener in Germany.
Including games as Yugoslavia and Serbia & Montenegro, Dragan Stojkovic’s nation have lost their last five meetings with England, although they held an impressive record of one defeat in their last 21 World Cup qualifying matches before the group began, winning 14 and drawing six.
⏪ Back in November 2021…
🏴5️⃣-0️⃣🇦🇱 pic.twitter.com/JfIJQD39r0
— England (@England) March 21, 2025
Latvia are ranked 137th and have never played England before, while Andorra are 174th and have lost all seven of the encounters between the countries by an aggregate score of 26-0, although only a Harry Kane goal separated the sides during the current campaign.
Ben Chilwell, Bukayo Saka, Tammy Abraham, James Ward-Prowse and Jack Grealish scored when England won 5-0 in Andorra in October 2021.
Albania are ranked 68th and lost 2-0 at Wembley Stadium in Tuchel’s first match in charge and England’s first qualifer on March 21.
They are one of five nations England have faced more than six times and won against every time, alongside Luxembourg (9), San Marino (8), Malta (7) and Andorra (6).
Togetherness and creating a bond 🤝 pic.twitter.com/hkQRundhgg
— England (@England) March 21, 2025
England football team World Cup qualifying fixtures
All fixtures start at 19:45 UK time (14:45 ET / 11:45 PT) unless otherwise stated.
Friday, March 21: England 2-0 Albania
Monday, March 24: England 3-0 Latvia
Saturday, June 7: Andorra 0-1 England
Saturday, September 6: England vs Andorra (17:00)
Tuesday, September 9: Serbia vs England
Tuesday, October 14: Latvia vs England
Thursday, November 13: England vs Serbia
Sunday, November 16: Albania vs England (17:00)
Sound on for this one. 🤩🔊 pic.twitter.com/ozcnaDn58Q
— England (@England) March 19, 2025
England games: What happens if Three Lions top group?
The top team from each of the 12 European Qualifier groups proceeds automatically to the finals, which will be expanded to 48 teams.
Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Portugal, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, France and Croatia are among the other favourites to win their groups.
What happens if England finish second in World Cup qualifiers?
England will be eliminated if they finish third or below and enter the play-offs between March 26-31 2026 if they come second.
The 12 runners-up in each group will join four Nations League teams in the play-offs, which will be drawn from pots based on teams’ records during the campaign. The games will comprise single-leg semi-finals and finals.
The draw for the World Cup finals will take place in December 2025. The tournament runs from June 11 until July 19 2026.
