Harry Maguire Discusses Awkward FaceTime Call with Tuchel
Harry Maguire has lifted the lid on the moment Thomas Tuchel told him his England journey was on hold – via a FaceTime call the defender admits was “quite awkward”.
Speaking on The Rest is Football podcast, the Manchester United centre-back described an unusually personal, and painfully direct, way to learn he had been left out of the latest squad.
Tuchel, he explained, rang every player individually.
“He FaceTimed everyone. It was quite an awkward call,” Maguire said. “I received a text saying can I speak to you about 4pm. It is quite a unique way of doing it and it must be quite hard because he can see everyone's reactions.”
The call did not last long, but the impact clearly has.
Maguire did not hide his feelings. “I said straightaway I was really disappointed. I thought I did enough to be in the squad and thought I could have helped and had a part to play on and off the pitch.”
Tuchel, according to Maguire, offered no tactical justification, no detailed breakdown. Just a blunt explanation of loyalty.
“He said he can't give me an excuse but he had gone with the four lads who got him through the autumn.”
For a player with 66 caps and a history of delivering in tournament football, it cut deep.
“It was tough to take,” he admitted. “I did think I would be in the squad after being selected for the March camp under him for the first time. I did really well in both games and then went back to Manchester United and finished the season really strongly.”
The omission marks one of the most significant setbacks of Maguire’s international career, yet he has not stepped away from the group. Far from it.
He has stayed in touch with senior figures in the dressing room – Harry Kane, Declan Rice and Jordan Pickford among them – to make sure they know his support has not dimmed just because his name is no longer on the team sheet.
Despite Tuchel’s contract running through to Euro 2028, Maguire is refusing to treat this as the end of his England story. There is frustration, but no bitterness. Disappointment, but no resignation.
“I don't think I would retire from England. I still feel I have something to offer,” he said. “There will be a time and a place where I don't deserve to get picked but I probably still wouldn't come out and retire. If I got one more cap it would be worth it.”
For now, he watches from the outside, a mainstay turned spectator, waiting to see if that one more cap – and perhaps more beyond it – will ever come.
