Ollie Watkins has withdrawn from the England squad to face Latvia on Tuesday night through injury.
Watkins scored as England eased past Wales 3-0 in a friendly fixture on Thursday night but will play no part in the trip to Riga. He joins Bayer Leverkusen defender Jarell Quansah in withdrawing from Thomas Tuchel’s group.
“Ollie Watkins has been ruled out of England’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier in Latvia,” a statement said.
“The Aston Villa striker has not recovered from the knock sustained against Wales at Wembley on Thursday evening and has returned to his club.”
Ollie Watkins has been ruled out of tomorrow’s @FIFAWorldCup qualifier against Latvia, having not recovered from the knock sustained against Wales.
Speedy recovery, Ollie! 👊
— England (@England) October 13, 2025
The absence of Watkins is a blow to England, after Harry Kane missed the Wales clash with a knock. However, Tuchel said ahead of that game that the Three Lions were confident Kane would be available for the World Cup qualifier with Latvia.
“Harry will miss the game (Wales), he got a kick in his last match and it is too painful to kick the ball and too risky for him,” the England boss said.
“We’ll give him the chance for it calm down and we’re convinced he will be ready for Latvia.”
Read – The smallest countries ever to qualify for the World Cup
See more – Five top centre-backs out of contract in 2026
