Credit: Breaking Media

Daniel Lewis

Sat 28 March 2026 7:40, UK

Dominic Calvert-Lewin failed to make the most of his opportunity as the Leeds Untied star was introduced in the second half of England’s draw against Uruguay.

Calvert-Lewin was brought off the substitutes’ bench around 10 minutes into the second half of Friday evening’s 1-1 draw at Wembley.

It marked the 29-year-old’s first appearance for England since 2021 and was just reward for the former shown at Leeds this season – albeit there has been a recent drop-off.

However, Calvert-Lewin was unable to make much of a positive impact on proceedings as Thomas Tuchel’s men were pegged back late on.

MOT Leeds News rounds up a selection of media reports from the English press on Calvert-Lewin, who Daniel Farke will be desperate to get back fit for Leeds’ clash with West Ham next weekend.

How did Dominic Calvert-Lewin perform vs Uruguay?

Calvert-Lewin likely only had once chance to make an impression on Tuchel, with England’s big-hitters returning to face Uruguay on Tuesday.

The brutal reality is 30 minutes was likely it in terms of Calvert-Lewin’s audition, with many surprised at his inclusion at all.

Naming an expanded 35-man squad certainly helped, but Danny Welbeck is man many others wanted to see included instead.

Calvert-Lewin had one big opportunity against Uruguay, but unfortunately he was unable to convert Cole Palmer’s free-kick.

As BBC Sport put it: “The Leeds forward should have scored from the excellent chance he was presented with from Palmer’s free-kick after coming on as a second-half substitute.”

A 5/10 rating was given to Calvert-Lewin, which is also the same as Goal who added: “Should have done much better with his free header.”

talkSPORT‘s Adrian Durham went with a rather harsh rating of 4/10, meanwhile, with only four Three Lions players rating lower.

As for The Guardian, they also focused on the missed chance and gave Calvert-Lewin a 6/10, while both the Daily Star and The Mirror did likewise.

Could that be it for Calvert-Lewin’s England chances?

The former Everton striker can be proud of himself for forcing his way into Tuchel’s plans at all, having seemed a millions miles off squad selection prior to joining Leeds.

Calvert-Lewin’s hot streak of form towards the end of last year was to thank for that, but it is worth pointing out he has gone six Leeds games without a goal, missing a penalty during that run.

Going further back, it is one goal in one goal in seven and two in 13 for the striker, which clearly is not good enough.

However, should DCL hit anything close to that previous form, there is no reason why he will not still be part of Tuchel’s squad for the World Cup.

That ultimately can only be a good thing for Leeds as Calvert-Lewin knows he has work to do at club level over these next couple of months.