Phil Foden’s girlfriend gives birth to third child as England return confirmed

Phil Foden is flying back in to the England camp after the birth of his third child.

Foden, 24, flew back to England straight after Tuesday night’s draw with Slovenia and his partner Rebecca Cooke gave birth to a baby boy. But Foden made a whistle-stop trip and was due back in on Thursday night after getting a flight back to Germany from the United Kingdom.

That means Foden, 24, will be expected to train on Friday and should therefore be in contention to start again for England’s last-16 tie with Slovakia in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday.

That will be a huge boost for England boss Gareth Southgate, who sees Foden as a key man in this tournament and he was arguably his best player in the draw with Slovenia.

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Foden has started all three of England’s Group C matches in Germany as Southgate’s side advanced by finishing top of the group. The Football Association announced on Wednesday that Foden had left the team’s Spa and GolfResort Weimarer Land base to attend to “a pressing family matter”.

“ Phil Foden has temporarily left the England camp and returned to the UK for a pressing family matter,” an FA spokesperson said.

Foden has two other children with his partner Rebecca Cooke. Son Ronnie was born in 2019, while Foden was still in his teens, while they welcomed a daughter in 2021.

Ronnie, who has become an Instagram celebrity with millions of followers, revealed in April that his parents were expecting a third child. The family posed with a sign reading ‘Baby Foden’, with a photo shared to Ronnie’s Instagram account.

Foden will now rejoin the squad ahead of Sunday’s game against Slovakia as England return to the Veltins Arena, which staged their opening group-stage win over Serbia.

Foden hit a post in England’s 1-1 draw with Denmark and has looked lively at times without truly being able to find the sort of form that saw him shine for City last year.

England boss Southgate has struggled to strike the right balance among his wealth of attacking options with the team scoring just twice in three matches so far.

Southgate does face a dilemma in midfield as Trent Alexander-Arnold was dropped against Slovenia and Conor Gallagher was replaced at half-time. Kobbie Mainoo is a strong contender to start against Slovakia on Sunday after impressing against Slovenia in central midfield.

Declan Rice missed training on Thursday as he was on his own fitness programme but is expected to be fit and is likely to be involved in all the build-up. Kieran Trippier, who has filled in at left-back despite missing much of the season run-in with a calf injury, also missed training and did his own programme.

Luke Shaw, who has been out with a hamstring issue since February, has declared himself fit to play against Slovakia. Southgate has been without a natural left-back through the tournament and Shaw making a return either to start or as a substitute would be a huge boost.

England are seen as red-hot favourites to see off Slovakia – ranked 45th in the world – and reach the quarter-finals of the Euros.

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