England manager Gareth Southgate has announced his 26-man squad for the Qatar World Cup.
The Three Lions will be led by captain Harry Kane, while the likes of Raheem Sterling, Declan Rice and Jordan Pickford were all automatic selections following England’s run to the Euro 2020 final last summer.
Several regulars such as Kyle Walker and Kalvin Phillips have overcome fitness concerns to be included, but Reece James and Ben Chilwell are among those to be denied a spot due to injury.
Southgate has also included a couple of late bolters, with the in-form trio of Ben White, James Maddison and Callum Wilson all receiving recalls to the national side just in time to make the plane.
However, it means there is no place for some players who have featured in recent squads, only to be left out at the last moment. Here’s a look at some of the biggest omissions ahead of the tournament.
It seemed that Abraham was winning the race to be Harry Kane’s back-up before the start of this season but Callum Wilson has edged him on account of his form in the Premier League. It may seem harsh but after a brilliant start to life in Italy with Roma, where he scored 27 goals in all competitions last season, the goals have dried up under Jose Mourinho and Abraham has managed just four so far this campaign.
“Tammy has had a poor run of scoring form at the wrong time,” Southgate explained after his squad was confirmed. “It’s not a case where we are three four weeks away from our first match, it’s 10 days. Form could be more important.” A lack of minutes for England in 2022 perhaps did not Abraham, either.
After receiving his first call-up in September, Toney seemed to be in a perfect position to stake a claim for Gareth Southgate’s squad. His eight goals in the Premier League so far made him an ideal candidate to play back-up to Kane, while his superb penalty record was also thought to have given the Brentford striker the edge over his competitors. Toney did not play during September’s international break and perhaps that was as much of a sign as anything that Southgate had made up his mind.
A Serie A title winner with AC Milan last season, Tomori will be one of those to be disappointed by his omission for the World Cup. Although he received his first call-up in 2019, the former Chelsea defender has not managed to nail down a regular place in Gareth Southgate’s squad and was also left out of June’s Nations League matches. Tomori was recalled in September but performed poorly for Milan against his former side Chelsea in the Champions League group stages.
Marc Guehi can also consider himself to be unfortunate, with Harry Maguire, John Stones, Eric Dier and Conor Coady preferred. On his centre-back choices, Southgate explained: “We have picked our most experienced defenders. We don’t think the young ones have done quite enough to push the older ones out.”
Another major tournament, another heart-breaking omission for the Southampton captain. Ward-Prowse was in England’s squad in September and has always appeared to have Southgate’s trust but just like before Euro 2020, the midfielder has been left out in favour of other options. Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham look likely to be England’s starting pair but Ward-Prowse offered something different thanks to his excellent set-piece delivery. However, it seems the inclusion of James Maddison and Conor Gallagher has cost him his spot in the 26.
The West Ham forward was deserving of his first England call-up in March following a superb season that included 12 Premier League goals. Bowen played in all four of England’s Nations League games in June and was one of the better performers in a tough spell of results for Southgate’s side, but he then did not feature in the September matches despite being included in the squad. Bowen’s place looks to have been taken by Marcus Rashford, who has rediscovered his form in time to receive a recall. Jadon Sancho was another candidate for this position but, unlike Rashford, he did not do enough with his performances for Manchester United.
