Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall woke up on Friday to the worst news a footballer can get on international week — and ended the night scoring the goal that sealed Everton's comeback. Hours after Thomas Tuchel left him out of England's Nations League squad, the 28-year-old midfielder struck in the 81st minute to complete a 3-1 win over Coventry City at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Dewsbury-Hall had been tipped to earn a place in Tuchel's latest squad after a string of impressive performances for Everton. Instead, the call never came, with Borussia Dortmund teenager Jobe Bellingham selected ahead of him. Tuchel admitted on Friday afternoon that the Everton man had been "very close" to selection, praising what he called a "very good season" so far — but close was not enough.
The midfielder did not hide how much it hurt. "It was a disappointing morning, I'm not going to lie. It's a massive dream of mine to play for my country. I know I was close," he told Sky Sports after the match, as Reuters reported. "I'm sad, yeah, but really proud of myself and how I have reacted. All I can keep doing is putting in good performances and hopefully one day I get the nod, because I'm never going to give up."
The perfect response on the pitch
Everton needed a response of their own. Yann Gboho had put Frank Lampard's Coventry ahead early in the second half, and for an hour the promoted side looked capable of leaving Merseyside with a famous result. Then Thierno Barry intervened, twice in five minutes — heading in Vitaliy Mykolenko's cross on 56 minutes and striking again on 61 — to turn the game on its head.
Dewsbury-Hall finished the job. With Coventry pushing for an equaliser, Barry turned provider, splitting the visiting defence with a through-ball that sent his teammate in from a tight angle. The midfielder drove his finish past Carl Rushworth at the near post to make it 3-1 and settle a frantic final 25 minutes.
It was a goal that said everything about where Dewsbury-Hall's season is heading. BBC Sport credits him with 11 league goals and seven assists since the start of last season, and his strike on Friday was his latest reminder that his numbers belong in the England conversation. Barry, meanwhile, took his tally to 10 goals for the season with his brace — two more than he managed across his entire first campaign at the club.
What it means for Everton
The win lifted Everton to fifth in the Premier League on 16 points, back-to-back victories after a start to the season that has quietly become one of the division's better stories. It also carried extra meaning for David Moyes, who took charge of his 592nd match as Everton manager to draw level with the club record set by Harry Catterick, whose tenure ran from 1961 to 1973.
For Dewsbury-Hall, the night was about more than three points. He joined Everton from Chelsea in August 2025 and has become one of the first names on Moyes' teamsheet, a box-to-box presence whose goals from midfield have turned tight games Everton's way. Tuchel's message was that he is close; Friday's performance was the midfielder's answer that close is not far enough.
England, second in Nations League Group C, host Croatia at Wembley on November 12 before travelling to Madrid to face Spain three days later. Dewsbury-Hall will watch both from home — unless Tuchel needs a late replacement, in which case Friday night made the case better than any agent ever could. Our report on the England squad announcement has the full list of who did make the cut.
So what
The England door is not closed, but it is narrow. Tuchel has shown he watches form closely, and Dewsbury-Hall is doing everything a player in his position can do: scoring, assisting and dragging his club up the table. The danger for him is that England's midfield is the most crowded area of the squad, and a good season at Everton is no longer enough on its own — he needs to keep producing moments like Friday's, week after week.
For Everton, the bigger picture is just as encouraging. A fifth-place standing at this stage of the season, a striker in double figures before November is out, and a midfielder playing with the hunger of a man who feels he has something to prove: that is a combination that can carry a club a long way before the international break ends. Read our full report on Everton's 3-1 comeback win over Coventry for the match in full, and Football365 also has reaction from a landmark night for Moyes.
Beyond the Final Whistle: Dewsbury-Hall's story is the oldest one in football — the snub that becomes fuel. Tuchel told him he was close, and within hours he had scored the goal that proved it. England managers remember nights like this. If the midfielder keeps answering disappointment the way he did on Friday, the next squad announcement will be very hard for Tuchel to get wrong.
Should Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall be in the next England squad? Let us know in the comments.
