World Cup 2026: Should Noni Madueke make the England squad?

England have a lot of talent floating around at the moment, which is going to give boss Thomas Tuchel a real headache when selecting his squad for the Fifa World Cup finals next summer.

There will be fierce competition for places in the coming months and one player hoping to earn a spot on the plane is Noni Madueke. Below I take a look at his chances of making the 2026 World Cup squad.

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The winger has been finding his way in the Premier League since joining Chelsea in January 2023. He wasn't the Blues' best performer but he was more consistent than most. As Chelsea continued to pump money into the squad, Madueke was one of the first players to be led towards the exit and he made the switch to Arsenal in the summer, to bolster the Gunners' attacking ranks.

He enjoyed a bright start in north London in 2025/26, before picking up a muscle injury which has only just seen him return to the matchday squad. The former PSV Eindhoven is the understudy on the right flank to Bukayo Saka, which would almost certainly be the case in the England set-up if Tuchel picks him for the World Cup.

Both wide players are right-sided attackers who are left-footed, which gives the Three Lions two options to play in a style which a lot of clubs utilise today - with left-footers on the right and right-footers on the left.

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A positive about both of them is that they like to be direct. In a lot of systems you will have players who will play safe in a bid to wait for the right gap to exploit. Madueke and Saka like to take their full-backs on to try and carve out a chance the old-fashioned way.

Madueke is quite quick when he gets going and this will be a huge tick as Tuchel weighs up the pros and cons of bringing him to the World Cup. He is capable of creating and scoring goals, too.

In the last two seasons (for Chelsea) he has scored 12 goals and provided five assists. As a 23-year-old, he will be looking to better these figures at Arsenal to try and force his way into the Three Lions squad.

I think it's clear that there is something Tuchel likes about Madueke as a player, as he had named him in both the June and September squads before the winger's injury.

England World Cup 2026 Squad Odds

The German tactician will no doubt be keeping a close eye on what he can contribute at Arsenal this season despite not being a first name on the team sheet right now.

Jarrod Bowen looks to be Madueke's biggest threat for a seat on the plane, and considering that he is regularly playing for West Ham United, he may currently be ahead of Madueke in the pecking order.

Both players are talented and Bowen has produced better goal returns in recent seasons, but I wouldn't say he boasts the same speed as Madueke.