After three years away, Ben White is back in England’s squad for the upcoming games against Uruguay and Japan, taking the place of Jarell Quansah, which has again brought to light the unanswered questions from his last participation.
The right-back, who earned four caps with the Three Lions following his first call-up in March 2021, had been absent from the national team since the 2022 winter World Cup in Qatar.
Why Ben White vowed not to play for England
Ben White surprisingly left the England training camp in Al Wakrah, Qatar, on November 30, with the FA officially citing personal reasons and requesting privacy for the player at the time.
However, while the Arsenal man never made a public vow, it was reported that Ben White vowed never to play for England again, as long as Gareth Southgate and his staff remain in charge of the team.
There were reports that his reasons followed a verbal altercation with Southgate’s assistant Steve Holland in front of the rest of the squad, after the coach questioned his interest in football because the defender couldn’t answer a tactical question about Arsenal’s previous season.
In March 2024, Southgate confirmed that Arsenal’s then Sporting Director, Edu, had called to say White did not want to be considered for England squads at this time, and the former Brighton man remained unavailable for the rest of Southgate’s tenure.
Ben White returns to the England squad
After over three years since his last call-up to the squad, Ben White will again team up with his countrymen to defend England in the upcoming friendlies against Uruguay and Japan.
Coach Thomas Tuchel has opted for the recently returned from injury star to cover for Jarell Quansah, who picked up an injury with Bayer Leverkusen during the weekend’s draw in the Bundesliga.
White will hope to have a better time with the national team than he did with Southgate, where he appeared just four times, but will have to compete with Tino Livramento and Djed Spence for minutes in the coming days.
A tough one for Arsenal, too, who will rely on the 28-year-old following the recent loss of Jurrien Timber to injury, but Mikel Arteta will hope nothing goes wrong with this call-up, especially with the run-in already intensified.
Kehinde-Hassan Afolabi
