Ivan Toney said he never doubted his chances of returning to England despite moving to the Saudi Pro League last year.
Gareth Southgate called up Al Ahli forward ahead of the Three Lions World Cup qualifiers against Andorra this Saturday.
The 29-year-old returned to the national team for the first time since losing Spain in the 2024 European Cup final last July.
Toney missed international football after eight months of suspension for betting violations in 2023.
After Toney left Brentford last summer, Toney signed Saudi club Al Ahli and quickly found his form, scoring 30 goals in 44 matches in all matches.
When asked at a training camp in Girona on Wednesday whether turning to Saudi Arabia puts his international career at risk, the striker replied: “No.
🗣”It’s hard, it’s not easy!”
Ivan Toney of England said criticism of Saudi professional league is unfair.#bbcfootball pic.twitter.com/2i6qlwjftr
– The match of the day (@bbcmotd) June 5, 2025
“You see I think if you just do the right thing, play football, play well and score points – the forward’s job, that’s the team you’re going to do – it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter if you play in the world, I think you should still have a chance.
“I think it proved to be where I got back here and went back to the boys. It feels good to see the face again, it feels good to be stuck.”
Tony’s output in Saudi Arabia is hard to ignore. Only Cristiano Ronaldo surpassed him in the league during the 2024-25 campaign, with Toney’s 23 goals eliminating like Karim Benzema (21) and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (19).
“I feel like I’m in a good shape. As you can see, I’m here and I’m still scoring goals,” Toney added.
“So, hopefully I can continue to do that and join the World Cup.”
England faced Andorra in Spain on Saturday before playing against Senegal in a friendly match at Wembley on June 10.
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