By confirming that 11 members of his experimental 35-man squad will be rested for the first friendly of the international break against Uruguay, Thomas Tuchel may have effectively revealed some of the players he deems certainties to go to the World Cup.
Tuchel confirmed that Dean Henderson, Dan Burn, Marc Guehi, Ezri Konsa, Nico O'Reilly, Elliot Anderson, Declan Rice, Morgan Rogers, Anthony Gordon, Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka will be given a few days' break before joining the camp on Friday.
Tuchel cited the high number of minutes each of those players have played this season, but also said he has seen enough of them to know they have nothing to prove. We can therefore conclude that they are all but certain, barring injuries, to be on the plane.
Jordan Pickford and Jude Bellingham are deemed to be in the same category, along with the injured Reece James, but will join the camp for the first game due to the fact they have played fewer minutes than the likes of Anderson, Rice, Kane and Saka this season.
Nick Wright
Tuchel's biggest decision for his World Cup squad is still to be made: which of the abundance of No 10 talents will and won't go to the tournament.
On Friday he made it clear that it will be "very unlikely" he will take "three, four or five players for one position".
So, across this split squad, we will see Cole Palmer and Phil Foden vying for the role against Uruguay. Then Rogers, Eberechi Eze and - if fit enough - Bellingham against Japan.
Palmer has played just 65 minutes under Tuchel and has underwhelmed of late for Chelsea. Foden - suggested as a No 9 option in November - now can't get into the Man City starting XI.
Meanwhile, Bellingham has been out for a month with injury, Rogers - a star of the Tuchel era so far - has dipped, and Eze has only scored against Tottenham, Mansfield and Bayer Leverkusen since the November camp.
There aren't knockout numbers from that high-class pool of players. But, as Tuchel says, now "the competition is on" - and this is their last chance on the international stage before the summer to show him they deserve to make the cut.
Peter Smith
Nothing is guaranteed in football - but being overlooked for a 35-man squad chosen by the manager to "open up competition" for World Cup places does not bode well. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ollie Watkins were left out for "sporting reasons", Tuchel explained.
Dominic Solanke and Dominic Calvert-Lewin were called up ahead of Watkins because Tuchel wanted to see them up close. Tuchel says he has a "clear picture" of what the struggling Aston Villa striker, called up in October, can offer as Harry Kane's back-up.
That generosity was not afforded to Alexander-Arnold, who has played just 26 minutes under Tuchel, the former Chelsea boss insisting he knows the qualities this "huge talent" brings. Undoubtedly, Alexander-Arnold's omission is the biggest of them all.
Tino Livramento, Jarrell Quansah and Djed Spence are preferred at right-back in a squad that does not include the injured Reece James. Tuchel says it is a decision based on the evidence of the last three camps rather than anything about Alexander-Arnold.
Surely, this says a lot about how Tuchel sees the Real Madrid star, who has put injury worries behind him to start seven of their last nine matches, including both Champions League games against Man City. It is hard to see a way back for Alexander-Arnold under Tuchel.
Zinny Boswell
Of course, Tuchel had to be asked a question about 16-year-old Max Dowman, who became the Premier League's youngest ever goalscorer in Arsenal's dramatic win over Everton earlier this month. But his response was quite surprising.
With so many attacking options - and a debate already in the air about which of England's five No 10s should be picked this summer - Dowman was never really an option for the Three Lions this summer, right?
Or could he be? Tuchel admitted that England "have the chance" to call him up and they're considering "all options". This would be an extraordinary story. This is a young boy who has his GCSEs this summer - with the exam season clashing with England's first two World Cup games.
With all the options ahead of him, and the fact he is not starting matches for Arsenal, Dowman realistically remains a huge outsider for a World Cup spot this summer. But stranger things have happened.
Theo Walcott was picked for the 2006 World Cup despite never kicking a ball in the Premier League. Dowman has more experience than that…
Sam Blitz
At opposing ends of their international careers, recalls for Kobbie Mainoo and Harry Maguire offer Thomas Tuchel some much-needed options. They earned their last cap in a Nations League clash win over Ireland in September 2024.
Having both played an integral part of Manchester United's resurgence under Michael Carrick, the duo are playing their best football for some time as the World Cup draws near.
Maguire will be drawing on his 60-plus caps worth of his experience as he retakes his role among England's leadership contingent.
There has been work to replace his presence at the back with Marc Guehi performing as a worthy heir during the Euros in 2024.
However, a recent renaissance makes it appropriate for Maguire, who has never underperformed for his nation, to return as an option in central defence at the very least.
Mainoo, meanwhile, returns with eyes on taking back his midfield spot, with just 10 caps to his name. It was a spot he earned at the Euros, starting each of England's knockout stage fixtures, including the final against Spain.
His absence due to being cast into the fringes by Ruben Amorim offered the chance for emerging competition to fill the role and fill it well.
Battling away with Adam Wharton, Elliot Anderson and Jordan Henderson to make up a midfield with Rice and whichever No 10 - Mainoo's challenge is clear.
William Bitibiri
There was a shock around the newsroom when it emerged uncapped Jason Steele had been named in the 35-man England squad.
The Brighton goalkeeper has not played in the Premier League in two years, while he has made just five appearances for the Seagulls this season.
But England boss Thomas Tuchel revealed the 35-year-old is auditioning for a "special role" at the World Cup, with Steele "on trial" to be the fourth shot-stopper at the tournament to "support" the three-man mandatory goalkeeper group.
Steele's potential role is nothing new, with Tuchel following in the footsteps of his predecessor, Gareth Southgate.
Veteran goalkeeper Tom Heaton did a similar job under Southgate as the then-38-year-old was drafted into the Euro 2024 squad to help the goalkeeping unit.
And now Steele will be given his chance to stake his claim to fulfil the role, which Tuchel revealed would be to "support the goalkeeper coach, support a penalty-taking group and take a lot of workload off shoulders".
Steele's shock call-up shows Tuchel is firmly thinking of the wider picture as he ensures every angle is covered before England begin their bid to win the World Cup for the first time since 1966.
Declan Olley
