Gibbs-White deserves England call-up, says Forest boss Pereira

Nottingham Forest boss Vitor Pereira has backed Morgan Gibbs-White to be included in England’s World Cup squad following his hat-trick against Burnley.

Burnley led 1-0 at the City Ground at half-time, but Gibbs-White scored a 15-minute hat-trick after the break to guide Forest to a 4-1 victory, moving them five points clear of the relegation zone.

Gibbs-White became the third Forest player to score a Premier League hat-trick after Kevin Campbell in August 1996 (versus Coventry City) and Chris Wood in both December 2023 (against Newcastle United) and February 2025 (versus Brighton).

The 26-year-old has scored 12 Premier League goals this season, his most ever in a league campaign (excluding play-offs).

And since the start of March, no Premier League player has scored more times than the Englishman across all competitions (seven).

Gibbs-White has been left out of Thomas Tuchel’s last two England squads, including a 35-man squad in March, but Pereira believes the Forest star should be on the plane to the United States this summer.

“He [Gibbs-White] deserves that. This is just my opinion, but if I can give that, I think he deserves it, because he has the quality, he has the qualities of a leader,” Pereira said the win over Burnley.

3 – Morgan Gibbs-White is just the third player to score a Premier League hat-trick for Nottingham Forest, after Kevin Campbell (1996 v Coventry) and Chris Wood (2023 v Newcastle and 2025 v Brighton). Talisman. pic.twitter.com/6j33cuAxl4

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 19, 2026

“When things are not happening in the way that you want, when the team is struggling in the game, a lot of players could prefer to hide themselves, they do not want the ball.

“But Morgan wants the ball, he wants the responsibility, he wants to score goals, he wants to assist.

“When I told him that, when we are attacking, I wanted him to play in the pocket but, when we defend, he must defend on the side, it was not a problem for him.

“He understands the game. He has the spirit.”