2026-03-23 12:30:29
Ben White has been called up to the England squad for the first time since 2022.
The 27-year-old Arsenal full back left the national team’s camp during the World Cup in Qatar in November 2022 for personal reasons, while he made himself unavailable for the remainder of Gareth Southgate’s stint as manager.
He has now been recalled by Thomas Tuchel, replacing Bayer Leverkusen defender Jarell Quansah, who has been ruled out with a thigh injury.
Newcastle’s Harvey Barnes has also been drafted into the 35-man squad for the upcoming games against Uruguay and Japan, with Arsenal’s Eberechi Eze missing out with a lower leg injury.
White hasn’t played for England since March 2022, when the team beat Ivory Coast 3-0 in a friendly match.
In March 2025, Tuchel opened up about the defender’s chances of coming back into the team, as he was recovering from an injury of his own.
Asked if White had refused to be picked in the manager’s first two games in charge, he said: “Absolutely not.
“He loves to be back in the squad. It’s a bit too early given the seriousness of the injury he had and I’m delighted he’s back.
“We’ve been monitoring his training – huge compliments to the medical and performance department of the FA and thanks to everyone at Arsenal. We are on it and we are speaking to Ben.
“It’s now a question about getting more minutes and rhythm. He has has every chance to be back. He wants to and he’s glad to be back.”
A year later, and he’s been picked over Real Madrid defender Trent Alexander-Arnold, with the manager admitting he had a “tough decision” to make, as he opted for players with a “slightly different profile” to the former Liverpool star.
He recently said: “I know what Trent can give us and I decided still to stick to the players with us.”
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