Gibbs-White's month to prove World Cup worth

4 min read
Gibbs-White's month to prove World Cup worth - Image 1
Gibbs-White's month to prove World Cup worth - Image 2
Gibbs-White's month to prove World Cup worth - Image 3
Gibbs-White's month to prove World Cup worth - Image 4

Gibbs-White's month to prove World Cup worth

Morgan Gibbs-White has hit form at the right time with Nottingham Forest - but did not make Thomas Tuchel's 35-man England squad last month. If he is to make it to the World Cup, time is tight.

Gibbs-White's month to prove World Cup worth

Morgan Gibbs-White has hit form at the right time with Nottingham Forest - but did not make Thomas Tuchel's 35-man England squad last month. If he is to make it to the World Cup, time is tight.

Article image
Article image
Article image

Morgan Gibbs-White has a month to make his World Cup case.

Sunday's hat-trick against Burnley was a reminder the Nottingham Forest man can still be in the battle to be England's number 10.

Last month, he was left out of Thomas Tuchel's 35-man England squad for the friendlies against Japan and Uruguay.

But he is the man in form with eight goals in his past 13 games. Since the start of March, no player has scored more in the Premier League than Gibbs-White's six.

Forest go to Sunderland in the Premier League on Friday - so with 54 days to go until England's World Cup opener, can the 26-year-old old make a late dash for the squad?

Gibbs-White is rated throughout the England set-up, not just by Tuchel, given his achievements within the youth system.

He won the Under-17 World Cup in 2017 and the European Championship with Lee Carsley's Under-21s three years ago.

Yet Gibbs-White is still some way down Tuchel's pecking order.

He last played for the Three Lions in October's 3-0 win over Wales, having had 12 minutes in the World Cup qualifier against Andorra in September.

Over his six caps he has played just 89 minutes after being handed his debut by Carsley as a second-half substitute against the Republic of Ireland in September 2024.

But Tuchel is yet to put his full faith in Gibbs-White, despite others struggling for consistency this season.

Cole Palmer, Eberechi Eze, Morgan Rogers, Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham - all called up for last month's friendlies - are ahead of him in the contest to be England's number 10.

Gibbs-White (2,819) and Aston Villa's Rogers (2,925) have played the most minutes this season of the number 10 contenders - over a thousand more than Palmer - to underline their importance to their respective sides.

And Gibbs-White is the second-highest English scorer in the Premier League with 12 - with Brighton's Danny Welbeck on 13.

Palmer and Rogers have nine each - but the Villa man has just two in his past 16 games while five of the Chelsea forward's goals have been penalties.

Only Foden and Bellingham have created more chances per 90 minutes than Gibbs-White's 1.4 but the Forest player has the lowest expected assist figures.

Gibbs-White is not as involved in the box as most of the others, perhaps down to Forest's Premier League struggles, with only Eze (3.1) having fewer touches in the box per 90 minutes than Gibbs-White's 3.5.

He is also bottom for carries (9.6 per game) - although he has had to adapt to the tactical adjustments of four managers at the City Ground this season - while he is also last for winning the ball back at 3.1 and makes 0.6 tackles per 90 minutes.

Along with Rogers, he take the fewest shots per 90 minutes with 2.3. Chelsea's Palmer is highest on the list with an average of three.

A late run for the World Cup - with England's opening game against Croatia in Dallas on 17 June - can never be discounted. But there is an expectation it would take something special - plus one or two injuries - for Gibbs-White to make the plane.

Like this article?

Order custom jerseys for your team with free design

Related Topics

Related News

Back to All News