Thomas Tuchel’s England World Cup squad was always going to invite debate, but some calls were louder than others.
Leaving out Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, Harry Maguire and Jarrod Bowen created immediate scrutiny, especially with Noni Madueke included as part of the attacking group.
In that landscape, England beat Costa Rica 3-0 last Wednesday. Still, one moment made that selection debate even sharper.
Madueke had the kind of chance that should have killed the noise. Instead, after dribbling past the goalkeeper in the first half, he missed and gave fans another reason to question Tuchel’s judgement.
Noni Madueke miss adds pressure to Thomas Tuchel’s decision
The 24-year-old is expected to be Bukayo Saka’s immediate backup on England’s right wing. However, even against a lower-tier opponent, that role looked more fragile than Tuchel would have wanted.
One fan reacted to Madueke’s miss writing: “Come on, man, even my grandma could score that.”
Another stated: “If I’m Tuchel, he is not gonna play any games in the World Cup! What the f— is he laughing at? After missing that big chance.”
A third comment read ironically: “The world is seeing Prime Madueke for the first time. I used to see this every day at Chelsea.”
Another questioned: “Left Foden and Palmer for this donkey right, Tuchel?”
That last line cuts into the wider argument. Palmer and Foden both had inconsistent seasons, but still produced more goal contributions than the former Chelsea winger, while Bowen’s 23 goals and assists were more than double Madueke’s 11 for Arsenal.
Saka remains the starter, but Madueke’s Costa Rica miss has made the backup question harder to ignore before the World Cup.
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