Rio Ngumoha may not be in England’s final World Cup squad, but the Liverpool teenager has still received a major show of faith from Thomas Tuchel.
The 17-year-old was not included in the senior group for this summer’s tournament, which felt understandable given his age and the competition for places, but his rise has clearly not gone unnoticed.
England confirmed the news on X, stating: “Thomas Tuchel has confirmed that Rio Ngumoha, Josh King and Alex Scott will join the #ThreeLions for our preparation camp in Florida.”
That is still a huge moment for Ngumoha, because joining the senior national team environment at this stage of his career is a clear sign that the Liverpool winger is already being viewed as part of the future.
It also comes on the same day that Opta confirmed there will be no Liverpool player in an England squad for a major tournament for the first time since the 1986 World Cup.
Freddie Woodman was never likely to be involved, Joe Gomez has not had enough rhythm, Curtis Jones is competing in a stacked midfield area and Ngumoha’s full senior breakthrough has only just begun.
Yet the former Chelsea youngster being invited to Florida makes him the clear Liverpool positive from an otherwise unusual England announcement.
Ngumoha has already packed a lot into his short Anfield career, having made 29 senior appearances, scored twice and shown flashes of the direct running and confidence that made Liverpool work so hard to bring him from Chelsea.
Bacary Sagna has already argued that we should trust the teenager as an internal Salah replacement rather than immediately buying a marquee name, and although that still feels like a huge expectation, it shows how quickly the wider game has started to notice him.
The forward was also recently named as a joint Premier League Home Grown Debutant of the Season alongside Arsenal’s Max Dowman, while Liverpool also confirmed he was one of 27 players to earn a Scholar of the Year award.
This England camp call is not the same as making a World Cup squad, of course, but for Ngumoha it’s another step towards the very top.
For Liverpool, after such a difficult season, it’s a welcome reminder that one of the brightest English prospects in the country is already ours.
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