Struggling for goals, game-time and confidence, can Phil Foden salvage his World Cup dream?

The Manchester City playmaker was the only Three Lions star to start both matches, but was twice taken off before the hour mark and his confidence looked shattered.

Worryingly, England boss Thomas Tuchel said Foden “struggles” to make an impact, raising huge doubts over the 25-year-old’s ability to force his way onto the plane this summer.

Dream rise for the boy wonder

Foden, a boyhood Manchester City from Stockport, joined the club's vaunted academy aged four and progressed quickly through the youth ranks.

In November 2017, he was handed his senior debut by Pep Guardiola in a Champions League game against Feyenoord.

Foden was just 17 at the time, which said much for his precocious talent.

A gifted player with the ability to unlock defences, create and score goals, Foden went on to become a key figure in Guardiola's glittering reign.

Foden’s honours list at City includes six Premier League titles, two FA Cups, five League Cups and a Champions League.

He made his England debut in November 2020 and has amassed 49 senior caps to date.

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A huge talent who has failed to shine in 2026

While Foden’s ability is not in doubt, there has undeniably been a drop-off in his form during the second half of this season.

Before Christmas, he had hit 10 goals for City, including a header in the 3-0 derby demolition of Manchester United in September.

It was his seventh goal in a Manchester derby and his impressive form continued to the back end of the year.

Foden enjoyed a purple patch between late November and mid-December, where he scored six goals in four Premier League games.

But his form has tailed off badly since then and he is no longer an automatic pick in Guardiola’s starting line-up. Far from it, in fact.

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Firing blanks for club and country

Since he last found the net in a 3-0 win at Crystal Palace on December 14, Foden has failed to score in 22 appearances for club and country.

Indeed, you have to go as far back as September 2023 for his last England goal.

His dry spell for the Three Lions also stretches to 22 games and that is a major concern for Tuchel with the World Cup looming.

The German played Foden in the No 10 role against Uruguay during last Friday’s 1-1 draw and then as a false nine in Tuesday’s 1-0 loss to Japan.

He was hooked after 56 minutes in the former game and after 59 minutes in the latter, leaving Tuchel to cast doubt on the City ace’s ability to make an impact at international level.

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Foden has lost his place in City’s starting line-up and only came on in the 89th minute during the recent Carabao Cup final 2-0 win over Arsenal.

Tuchel is required to submit his final World Cup squad on May 30 and has warned Foden that there are no guarantees that his name will be on the 26-man list.

The German said after his two recent England appearances: “He tried everything. He was excellent in camp, but he struggles to show it on the pitch.

“Obviously he didn’t have a lot of minutes for City recently, then he came to camp with the brightest smile and was so good in training.

“And I thought he will just surprise us and will play with the same verve and excitement but, yeah, he struggles to have the full impact.”

Can Foden change Tuchel’s mind?

As an increasingly peripheral figure at City, and having failed to make an impact for England, Foden’s chances of making the plane to the US this summer are slipping.

Foden, as he has acknowledged in the past, has rarely taken his City form on to the international stage, even on the run to the Euro 2024 final, fresh from collecting the PFA and FWA player awards.

Tuchel was non-committal about Foden’s potential inclusion in England’s World Cup squad but admitted the player’s form was a cause for concern.

Asked if he can take someone who is struggling to perform on the pitch, Tuchel replied with a laugh: “I can, I can. The question would be if we will.”

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Put to Tuchel it places doubts against Foden, he added: “Well, it’s not a guarantee that he will come.”

Foden can be used as No 10 and a false nine, and even out wide, but he struggled to make any impact in those first two positions for England.

Players like Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and Jude Bellingham are likely to be ahead of him in the queue for a No 10 role, while Harry Kane is a shoo-in for the central striking role.

Behind him, Dominic Solanke and Ollie Watkins are seen as more viable deputies than Foden.

It would take some run of form from Foden to make Tuchel’s 26-man squad but, with City out of the Champions League, if not the Premier League title race, his chances to impress on the highest stage are diminishing.

That, coupled with those damning comments from Tuchel, and the odds on Foden making it through departures with England this summer appear increasingly doubtful.

 

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