Max Dowman in England XI who staked their World Cup 2030 claim in Carabao Cup on Wednesday

Will Ford 24 Sep 2025 10:14 PM

Max Dowman made his debut as a 15-year-old for Arsenal.

The clamour for Max Dowman’s place in the (2030) World Cup starts here after another fine showing for Arsenal.

Manchester City’s Divine Mukasa looks set to be 37-year-old Harry Kane’s back-up, while manager Frank Lampard will convert Nico O’Reilly back to his pre-Pep Guardiola role.

Here’s an XI of young English players who staked their claim for a place on the plane to Morocco/Spain/Portugal in Carabao Cup action on Wednesday.

GK: James Trafford (Manchester City)
“The race is on,” Thomas Tuchel said when asked about his England No.1 for the World Cup this summer as he namechecked Trafford as vying with Dean Henderson and Jordan Pickford for the spot.

But it is going to be Pickford and after Gianluigi Donnarumma’s signing, the chances for Trafford to “prove himself in the Premier League” are going to be few and far between. Carabao Cup games against League One teams aren’t going to offer much opportunity to showcase his skills and he made no saves in the 2-0 victory over Huddersfield, but he’s ‘the man in possession’ of the World Cup 2030 No.1 shirt.

RB: Rico Lewis (Manchester City)
He really hasn’t kicked on to anything like the level expected when he burst onto the Manchester City scene in 2022, at which point he was destined to force Kyle Walker out of his right-back role, rather watching Walker’s steady demise from the bench while acting as a utility player managers love but the jack-of-all-trades in question would prefer not to be.

He actually played as the defensive midfielder in the 2-0 victory over Huddersfield and looked perfectly capable, as he always does at right-back or in more forward midfield roles. A very useful player for a major international tournament.

CB: Archie Gray (Tottenham)
Starting the first Premier League game of the season as Thomas Frank’s defensive midfielder before featuring for just a single minute since doesn’t bode hugely well and although there were one or two excellent examples of his quality against Doncaster – in one instance winning the ball back in the final third before delivering a perfect cross for Lucas Bergvall to fluff – but equally other moments to suggest he’s not quite got the steel required.

Not so much as Joao Palhinha certainly, who interestingly was moved back into the Spurs defence here to grant Gray the midfield opportunity he will be denied in 2030 thanks to the enduring England centre-back problem being more serious than the enduring defensive midfield problem.

CB: Djed Spence (Tottenham)
OK, we’re taking liberties here, we know. Spence is closer to a winger than a centre-back. Big though, isn’t he?

He made his seventh start in eight games in the 3-0 win over Doncaster as the clear winner in the battle for ascendency with Destiny Udogie.

LB: Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal)
He’s presumably as frustrated as we are ahead of the coming World Cup that this was his first start of the season after just 66 minutes of Premier League action on the back of a quite astonishing breakout season.

Dropped in favour of Riccardo Calafiori for no reason we can think of other than the Italian being a big lad more useful in Mikel Arteta’s bid to field as many footballers who can deliver from set-pieces as possible.

Lewis-Skelly responded with an assist in the 2-0 victory over Port Vale – albeit a fortuitous one as he definitely didn’t mean his flick to be quite so deft into the path of Eberechi Eze. If a better English left-back emerges in the next four years that individual will be an extraordinary footballer.

DM: Lewis Miley (Newcastle)
More of a box-to-box midfielder but also more of a DM than any of the midfielders who played for England at Euro 2024.

CM: Nico O’Reilly (Manchester City)
We’re taking a not-unreasonable punt on England midfield issues requiring 2030 manager Frank Lampard to convert O’Reilly back into his pre-Pep role at the heart of the Three Lions team. Can’t imagine a world in which that’s a problem on the eve of a tournament.

LW: Luca Williams-Barnett (Tottenham)
We would never usually sign up to such nonsense, but if anyone can claim a ‘pre-assist’ it would be a 16-year-old seconds after coming off the bench for a senior debut. Didn’t happen anyway as Bergvall’s tap-in was ruled out for offside but there was some nifty feet and a smart pass from Williams-Barnett.

AM: Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal)
There’s an incredibly brutal sense that Nwaneri is old Arsenal news at the age of 18, cast aside by the fans in favour of a shinier new toy in Max Dowman. But he was really good here and is no less brilliant as a result of his younger teammate’s rise. May have quite the battle for the No.10 spot in 2030 as Cole Palmer and others currently in the running under Tuchel will be in their prime.

RW: Max Dowman (Arsenal)
We’re slightly surprised there’s not more clamour from the absurdly giddy Arsenal fans for Dowman to currently be playing for England, with social media awash with Gooners insisting on the 15-year-old as the second coming.

Such infatuation from fans of The Arsenal has the effect of us not wanting to board the bandwagon, but we have to concede he looks pretty special, as he showed again against Port Vale with one wonderful through ball and a delightful flick on the touchline.

ST: Divine Mukasa (Manchester City)
A first senior start for Mukasa, who got 17 goals and 25 assists in 41 appearances across all competitions for the Manchester City academy last season, generally operating in the No.10 role.

Pep Guardiola started him up top for City here and Mukasa delivered with a really beautiful assist for Phil Foden, acting as a wall for a one-two with the playmaker ahead of his drive into the corner. Showed himself more capable of being back-up to a 37-year-old Harry Kane in 2030 than any other English striker this season in that one moment.

F365 Features Max Dowman

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