Tomori holding onto England World Cup dream amid stiff competition

Fikayo Tomori has not given up on his dream of representing England at the 2026 World Cup.

The AC Milan centre-back made his debut for the Three Lions in 2019 and went on to win five caps under Gareth Southgate.

However, the former Chelsea defender, who also represented his birth country Canada at Under-19 level, has not been called up for England duty in over two years.

Tomori has featured in 13 of Milan’s 15 Serie A games this season, with only Alexis Saelemaekers (23) winning more tackles than the 28-year-old (18), while he has also won the sixth-most duels for his side in the competition (39).

Although Tomori faces stern competition for a place in Thomas Tuchel’s squad, his hopes have been boosted by the recent call-up of Milan team-mate Ruben Loftus-Cheek.

“I spoke to him after the last international break in November. We’ve spoken a few times and the message is to keep doing what I’m doing,” Tomori told BBC Sport.

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“The World Cup is six months away and there’s a lot of football to be played.

“I know he’s watching and keeping an eye because he called up Ruben. That gives me the confidence I can make it.

“He came to Milan last season and I know he gets our data and sees our clips regularly, too.

“The way he’s spoken about it is that it’s difficult because there’s so many players in that position, and I get it because you have players like John Stones, Marc Guehi, Dan Burn and Ezri Konsa.

“But the World Cup is still a dream and I’m working towards that.”

The March international break will be the last time Tuchel selects his squad before his final decision for the 2026 World Cup at the end of the season.

England will face Ghana, Croatia and Panama in the group stages of next summer’s tournament.