Pickford remains the leading choice after playing a key role in England reaching the World Cup semi-finals for just the fourth time this summer.
Following his appointment as England manager in 2024, Thomas Tuchel expressed his high regard for both Trafford and Henderson.
Trafford earned his first England appearance in March’s 1-1 draw with Uruguay, while Pickford featured throughout the World Cup except for the match against France, which Henderson started.
That achievement took him beyond Peter Shilton’s England record of 17 World Cup outings, with Pickford finishing the competition on 19 appearances.
After England overcame Mexico in the World Cup round of 16, former national-team goalkeeper Paul Robinson said: “For me, he is the first player selected. No one else comes close.”
Pickford has appeared 14 times at European Championships and stopped four of the 14 penalties he has encountered in major-tournament shoot-outs. His saves helped England beat Colombia at the 2018 World Cup and Switzerland in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals.
The former Sunderland goalkeeper has delivered reliable performances across nine seasons with Everton. He was named the club’s player of the season in three successive campaigns as the team fought to avoid relegation from 2021 to 2024.
Now 32, he has accumulated 362 Premier League appearances, recorded 98 clean sheets and stopped nearly 70% of the attempts directed at his goal, including 86% of shots taken from outside the penalty area.
Across the previous two seasons, Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya is the only player to have registered more Premier League clean sheets.
Pickford also claimed the league’s save-of-the-season prize for the second time last season after producing a spectacular reflex save, external to deny Sandro Tonali’s volley and preserve Everton’s 3-2 victory at St James’ Park in February.
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