Thomas Tuchel will have made some big calls ahead of Friday’s official World Cup 2026 squad announcement. The England manager picked his 55-man provisional squad for the tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States last week.
He faces a far tougher task in whittling that down to the final 26-player squad submitted to FIFA this Friday. Whoever Tuchel picks or omits, there is bound to be plenty of backlash from the fans, media and pundits.
But it is unlikely the German will snub any player in as controversial a fashion as Glenn Hoddle did when he chose not to take Paul Gascoigne to the 1998 World Cup in France. Gascoigne at the time was the Three Lions’ most gifted player and played for Middlesbrough at the time – but he failed to impress Hoddle in the warm-up match against Morocco.
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The midfield talisman stormed into the manager’s office in La Manga, Spain, already aware that he was to be axed – and confirmation of Hoddle’s decision went down even worse than expected. Gascoigne was delivered the crushing news in the manager’s hotel room before spiralling into a rage and trashing the room.
Later giving his own account of how it all transpired, Gascoigne said: “I went mad, berserk. I lost my rag big time. I was shouting and swearing. I couldn’t believe the injustice of it.
“I was swearing. Everything came out. I let go of all the emotion building up inside me, I was so hurt.
“I gashed my knee as I kicked the door, I was crying and out of control. I didn’t want to talk to anybody and I didn’t want to listen to what Glenn had to say.
“There is nothing he could say. I wanted to be part of England’s World Cup glory but he has destroyed my biggest dream.”
View 2 ImagesGascoigne didn’t do enough to make the ’98 England squad(Image: Mark Leech/Offside via Getty Images)
Arsenal legend Ian Wright recalled being the next person to face Hoddle. Upon entering, he saw that the room was “smashed to bits.” Wright was then informed of his inclusion, even talking tactics with Hoddle as the pair cleaned up the mess.
Gascoigne left the England camp immediately. His house back in England was swarmed by the media as he flew back, with his omission dominating much of the talk surrounding the national team.
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In his absence, England lacked guile and were knocked out by Argentina in the last 16 after David Beckham’s sending-off.
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