FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifications: John Stones excluded from English games; Kane started playing against Andorra

John Stones is excluded from the world cup qualifications of England against Andorra and Serbia with a muscle injury.

The defender of Manchester City left the training camp of the National Team on Friday, with head coach Thomas Tuchel who said he could not be risked at the upcoming matches.

Stones played this season in all three Premier League matches of City, but Tuchel said he had an injury with him when reporting for the duty of England.

«He came up with small problems, muscular problems, to camp and did not go further as we thought and hoped he would do that, so he left the camp this morning because we will not take the risk, not to Andorra and unfortunately not to Serbia,» Tuchel said Friday.

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England plays Andorra on Saturday in Villa Park and Serbia in Belgrade on Tuesday.

Tuchel said that Captain Harry Kane would play against Andorra and it stated that he would not take any opportunities if he tries to guarantee the qualification of the World Cup.

«It is the World Cup season. We have a short period of three camps (until the end of the qualification),» he said. «The competition is called in, and that means we will start with the team that we trust and with the best possible team for this game, and then we will manage the second game.»

Published on 05 September 2025