Manchester City defender John Stones has been forced to pull out of the England squad for this month’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers due to injury, Afrosport reports.
The 31-year-old was included in the initial 24-man squad by head coach Thomas Tuchel, but has withdrawn from their matches against Andorra and Serbia due to a “muscular issue”.
“Unfortunately, John Stones [has] just left,” Tuchel said at a pre-match conference on Friday. “He came with minor muscle issues to camp and didn’t progress the way we thought and hoped he would so he left camp this morning because we will not take the risk against Andorra and also unfortunately against Serbia.”
“Everyone else is available. We had 21 players yesterday in training and 21 players today in training and hopefully make sure everyone is available for tomorrow.”
Stones has started all three of City’s games in the Premier League this season, failing to play the full 90 minutes in only their 4-0 win at Wolves on opening weekend.
His absence shortens England’s centre-back options, but Tuchel can still call on Marc Guehi, Dan Burn, Ezri Konsa and Jarell Quansah for the qualifiers.
England sit top of Group K with nine points, having won all their three games so far. The Three Lions will host Andorra at Villa Park on Saturday before heading Belgrade to face Serbia next Tuesday.
