Harvey Barnes' Scotland snub backfires as England World Cup hopes in tatters

Below is a summary of the full article. Click here for the full version from Daily Express or go back to LFC Live.

Harvey Barnes has been overlooked for Thomas Tuchel's 35-man England World Cup squad after turning down Scotland to focus on his Three Lions ambitions. 12:52, Fri, Mar 20, 2026 Updated: 13:31, Fri, Mar 20, 2026 Harvey Barnes is not in the latest England squad (Image: Getty)Harvey Barnes has seen his England World Cup ambitions go up in smoke – just months after rejecting Scotland who would have virtually guaranteed him a spot in their squad.

The Newcastle United winger qualifies for the Scots through his maternal grandparents and there had been suggestions he might commit in time to provide Steve Clarke with a significant boost to his wide options ahead of this summer's tournament.Barnes, whose solitary senior England cap arrived in a friendly against Wales in 2020, stated in November that he was keeping his options open. The 28-year-old informed the Scotland manager he wished to focus on representing England.Yet he has now been overlooked from a 35-man England squad months before the tournament - which seemingly indicates he is well removed from the reckoning under Thomas Tuchel.Before the tournament, Tuchel has his final opportunity to assess the squad in friendly fixtures against Uruguay and Japan.

He selected a substantial 35 players in the squad for the match but still excluded Barnes.His St James' Park team-mates Lewis Hall, Dan Burn, Tino Livramento and Anthony Gordon have all been included in the latest England squad before the World Cup finals in the States. This time I can say for sure, Harvey's going to concentrate on trying to play for England, he's not going to come to Scotland."You can put that one out there.