Northamtpon Town academy product handed shock World Cup call-up by England
Ivan Toney, a Northampton Town academy product, has been handed a shock call-up by England for the 2026 World Cup in USA, Mexico and Canada.
The 30-year-old forward, who joined Cobblers as a teenager and came through the youth system at Sixfields before playing more than 50 times for the first-team, scoring 13 goals, now represents Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia and has netted 32 times in 32 games this season.
However, he was not expected to be included in Thomas Tuchel’s 26-man squad having barely featured for England over the last 12 months. He’s played just two minutes of international football since Euro 2024, and was not included in the last four of Tuchel's squad. His only appearance under the current manager was a very late cameo in a friendly against Senegal almost 12 months ago.
Toney, who moved to Newcastle from Cobblers for a six-figure sum in 2015 before starring for Brentford in the Premier League, will compete with Harry Kane and Ollie Watkins at the top of the pitch.
England will depart for the United States on Monday, June 1, 16 days prior to their opening group encounter against Croatia (Wednesday, June 17). They will be based in Swope Soccer Village in Kansas City, Missouri, during the tournament, and have warm-up matches against New Zealand on June 6 (9pm UK time) and Costa Rica on June 10 (9pm UK time).
England's World Cup Group L games
England vs Croatia - June 17, Dallas, 9pm (UK time)
England vs Ghana - June 23, Boston, 9pm (UK time)
Panama vs England - June 27, New York-New Jersey, 10pm (UK time)
World Cup key dates
Group stage: June 11-27
Round of 32: June 28 to July 3
Round of 16: July 4-7
Quarter-finals: July 9-11
Semi-finals: July 14-15
Third-place play-off ('Bronze final'): July 18
Final: July 19
Full England squad
Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford (Everton), Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), James Trafford (Manchester City)
Defenders: Reece James (Chelsea), Tino Livramento (Newcastle), Marc Guehi (Manchester City), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), John Stones (Manchester City), Jarell Quansah (Bayer Leverkusen), Nico O'Reilly (Manchester City), Dan Burn (Newcastle), Djed Spence (Tottenham Hotspur)
Midfielders: Declan Rice (Arsenal), Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Jordan Henderson (Brentford), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Eberechi Eze (Arsenal)
Forwards: Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Ivan Toney (Al-Ahli), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Noni Madueke (Arsenal), Marcus Rashford (Barcelona, on loan from Manchester United), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle)