Can England take four goalkeepers to the World Cup? Jason Steele could have surprise role

Mar 20, 2026 - 15:45

Thomas Tuchel has called up five goalkeepers for the March international break and it could be a sign for what his plans are at the World Cup.

Tuchel has announced a 35-man squad for friendlies against Uruguay and Japan including three uncapped players.

Jason Steele for Brighton. — Jason Steele was handed a shock call-up to the England squad for the matches against Uruguay and Japan

Jordan Pickford, Dean Henderson, Aaron Ramsdale, James Trafford and 35-year-old Jason Steele have been selected for the upcoming games.

The Brighton goalkeeper has not played a single minute in the Premier League this season.

The call-up will be the keeper’s first at international level since he represented Great Britain at the 2012 Olympics.

Nick Pope has missed out after being named in the November England squad, however it seems the ten-times England capped ‘keeper has been replaced at club and international level by Ramsdale.

Furthermore, Carl Rushworth who is on loan at Coventry City from Brighton is disappointed to not have been included in the England squad, talkSPORT understands.

Rushworth has played every minute of the Championship season and holds the most clean sheets with 13 in 38 matches.

On Tuchel’s decision to hand Steele a call up, he said: “Jason is a bit of a particular one because we’re planning to take four goalkeepers to the World Cup and the fourth goalkeeper then has a special role.

“The three goalkeepers will compete and support each other for the matches but they will also compete for a place in goal.

“The fourth goalkeeper in a World Cup is then a specialist. He will support the goalkeeper group, he will support the goalkeeper coach, he will support a penalty-taking group and take a lot of workload off the other shoulders and that’s why we need an experienced guy.

“We need a guy with quality, with experience and with the right energy and attitude and we believe that Jason is this guy.

Thomas Tuchel speaking at his England press conference. — Tuchel has named his final squad before the World Cup and has called up three uncapped players

“So this is kind of a trial to find out how this group works together for the World Cup.”

Steele has been chosen for his expertise and looks like he could play a similar role to what Tom Heaton did in the Euros in 2024.

The Manchester United third choice goalkeeper flew out to Germany to support the competitive trio of the Three Lions goalkeepers during the tournament.

He was not a member of the 26-man playing squad, therefore was not available for selection.

However, his career experience of winning three England caps between 2016 and 2017 and representing his country at youth level proved worthy for helping the team in training sessions.

What are FIFA’s rules?

The FA have to provide a provisional squad for the World Cup by May 11 which should include ‘a list of a minimum of 35 and no more than 55 players’.

James Trafford has been called up for England despite only playing three matches in the Premier League this season[/caption]

By May 30, England will have to announce a final revised group of ‘at least 23 players up to a maximum of 26 players (at least three of whom shall be goalkeepers).’

Therefore, FIFA do not limit the amount of goalkeepers a national side can take on the plane to north America but they do have a rule for the minimum amount.

Additionally, ‘a goalkeeper listed on the final release list may be replaced by another goalkeeper from the provisional release list only, in the event of serious injury or illness, at any time during the final competition,’ as long as it’s confirmed by FIFA.

Is five goalkeepers too many?

The England manager has already revealed his training camp for March’s international break will be divided into two groups.

In his press conference, he said: “To get the best out of this camp, we decided to kind of split it into two camps.

“We invited 19 outfield players and four goalkeepers into the first part of the camp, meaning until the match against Uruguay, to give these players a real chance to impress.

Tuchel's 35-man squad

Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson, Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale, Jason Steele, James Trafford

Defenders: Dan Burn, Marc Guehi, Lewis Hall, Ezri Konsa, Tino Livramento, Harry Maguire, Nico O’Reilly, Jarrell Quansah, Djed Spence, John Stones, Fikayo Tomori

Midfielders: Elliot Anderson, Jude Bellingham, James Garner, Jordan Henderson, Kobbie Mainoo, Declan Rice, Morgan Rogers, Adam Wharton

Forwards: Jarrod Bowen, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Eberechi Eze, Phil Foden, Anthony Gordon, Harry Kane, Noni Madueke, Cole Palmer, Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka, Dominic Solanke

The 11 players joining the squad after the Uruguay game are: Dean Henderson, Dan Burn, Marc Guehi, Ezri Konsa, Nico O’Reilly, Elliot Anderson, Declan Rice, Morgan Rogers, Anthony Gordon, Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka.

“To give the players a real chance to compete for minutes against Uruguay, impress against Uruguay and then also compete for their ticket to the World Cup.

“From Friday evening, Saturday morning, 11 players will join us in camp, and we will then release some players to have a group of 21/22 outfield players plus goalkeepers to prepare professionally with full focus for the Japan match.”

Pickford is clearly the undisputed England No.1 and has been for a long time, with 81 appearances for his national team and achieving over 40 clean sheets in that time.

Ramsdale and Henderson are their clubs first choice keepers and will also be fighting for contention.

The Three Lions will be based in Kansas City, Missouri throughout the World Cup.

They will face friendlies against New Zealand and Costa Rica shortly before kicking off their campaign.

England will play Croatia in their first match of the tournament on June 17 in what will be a rematch of their semi-final clash in 2018.