Everything changed when Michael Carrick replaced Amorim as United\u2019s interim manager. Mainoo has since become a regular starter for the Red Devils, and his strong performances earned him a spot in Tuchel\u2019s England roster<\/a> for the final camp before the World Cup<\/a>. <\/p>\n Back to top form, Mainoo featured for England in it\u2019s 1\u20131 draw against Uruguay on Friday night at Wembley stadium, and here\u2019s how he fared in his return to the national team. <\/p>\n Kobbie Mainoo vs. Uruguay Kobbie Mainoo had little opportunity to impress against Uruguay. | Molly Darlington\/Getty Images<\/p>\n England debutant James Garner partnered veteran Jordan Henderson in Tuchel\u2019s staring midfield pivot against Uruguay, a decision that left many scratching their heads, especially due to the Brentford midfielder\u2019s inclusion. Adam Wharton then replaced Henderson after the interval, further delaying Mainoo\u2019s return. <\/p>\n Finally, Mainoo replaced Garner in the 69th minute, getting a little over 20 minutes to impress. Unfortunately for the United midfielder, he was one of the nine substitutions Tuchel had made by that point of the match, and the large amount of changes discombobulated an England side that had previously been far superior. <\/p>\n Wharton to his right anchored Tuchel\u2019s midfield\u2014much like Casemiro does with United\u2014allowing Mainoo to roam with a bit more freedom, especially further up the pitch. United would\u2019ve been watching closely, and Wharton is one of the players the club is reportedly targeting to slot alongside Mainoo upon Casemiro\u2019s departure from the club this summer. <\/p>\n Yet Mainoo struggled to get in contact with the ball and could only watch as United teammate Manuel Ugarte recycled possessions for a Uruguay side that grew into the game, as Marcelo Bielsa stuck with his starters longer and repeatedly instructed them to keep control of the ball late in the match.<\/p>\n Mainoo finished his cameo without making any noticeable impact, managing just eight touches and completing three of the five passes he attempted, the two he misplaced were the only ones he attempted inside Uruguay\u2019s halfway line. <\/p>\n It was a rather inglorious cameo from Mainoo, but one that was conditioned by the context he was brought into.<\/p>\n When Could Kobbie Mainoo Play For England Next? Mainoo will be eager to get another chance to make his World Cup case. | Alex Davidson\/The FA\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Mainoo will be itching to get a more extended look when England faces Japan on March 31 to wrap-up the international action. However, with regular starters Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson joining England\u2019s squad for that game, Mainoo\u2019s could be out of opportunities. <\/p>\n Given how brief Mainoo\u2019s cameo was, he could be one of the players Tuchel opts to keep to further evaluate in the match against Japan. If he gets discarded, though, there could be criticism directed at the German boss for giving Mainoo, who\u2019s been essential to Man Utd\u2019s return to form under Carrick, such little time to leave an impression\u2014especially considering he\u2019s already given players such as Henderson plenty of playing time during his tenure. <\/p>\n Mainoo already showcased that he can form a strong partnership with Rice. Tuchel would be wise to revisit the pairing that anchored England\u2019s charge to the 2024 Euros final. <\/p>\n There\u2019s no guarantee Mainoo will feature against Japan, and if he doesn\u2019t, then his World Cup hopes will be entirely dependent on how he performs for Man Utd during the climax of the season. <\/p>\n READ THE LATEST MAN UTD NEWS, ANALYSIS AND INSIGHT FROM SI FC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manchester United academy graduate Kobbie Mainoo played his first minutes for England since September 2024, looking to make…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":549976,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[403,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-549975","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-soccer","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=549975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549975\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/549976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=549975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=549975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=549975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Kobbie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/01kmrnsrrt4gzqcgaerc.jpg\" "\\"Kobbie")
<\/p>\n![\"Kobbie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/01kmrpr0m520hhsjdd5k.jpg\" "\\"Kobbie")
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