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The striker of “Al Ahly” will lead the attacking lines of the England team in the World Cup
England manager Thomas Tuchel has expressed his delight at calling up Al Ahly forward Ivan Toni to the final Three Lions squad for the 2026 World Cup finals in America, Canada and Mexico.
Despite being left out of the England camp last March, Toni received a call-up to the World Cup from Tuchel after his standout performance with Al-Ahly.
Tuchel commented on this issue in a statement by the Saudi Al-Riyadiah newspaper, where he said: “Tony’s training days have proven that the decision to call him up was very correct as he has shown amazing behavior and is going through training with great efficiency.”
The German coach refused to consider Toni as a replacement for Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane, who scored 61 goals last season, as he noted his ability to play alongside him.
He explained. “His (Tony’s) role with us will be a striker who finishes matches. He came here on a special mission. He will be involved at the right time, distracting the opposition from the leader and the most important source of danger for the national team, Harry Kane.”
He added: “With Toni, Harry Kane can play as a second striker. He also has excellent technical characteristics in the penalty area, makes good tackles and takes a great penalty. I am very pleased with his presence.”
As for the method of calling Ivan Tony, he said: “I had an honest conversation with him about whether he would be up for the role and he told us he would be happy to join us.”
He continued. “He has a great personality. He is popular and can relate to everyone. He is one of the best penalty takers in the world.”
He concluded. “He showed how calm he can finish, with one touch and two touches, and he can give us a lot of solutions when we play a match where we are close to the opponent’s penalty area and we are attacking.”
The 30-year-old had an excellent run in the Roshan League last season, where he finished second in the scoring charts with 32 goals, one goal behind Al-Qadisiya striker Julian Quinones of Mexico.
