Gareth Southgate has picked his 26 players to feature at the World Cup, and there is not a single contentious call in sight…
Well, yes, obviously that isn’t really the case. Like national team managers the world over, Southgate has faced as many questions about notable omissions as he has surprise inclusions for Qatar 2022.
Unsurprisingly, the England manager was all too happy to give James Maddison the good news on Thursday, naming the Leicester playmaker among his travelling party – “he’s playing as good as any of the attacking players in this country,” Southgate said – but there were some difficult phone calls to be made as well.
Some were enforced, due to injury, but Southgate also had to let a string of players down, with many likely believing they had done enough to make the final cut.
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England’s World Cup 2022 squad
Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Newcastle), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Conor Coady (Everton), Eric Dier (Spurs), Harry Maguire (Man Utd), John Stones (Man City), Luke Shaw (Man Utd), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle), Kyle Walker (Man City), Ben White (Arsenal)
Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), James Maddison (Leicester), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Kalvin Phillips (Man City), Declan Rice (West Ham)
Forwards: Phil Foden (Man City), Jack Grealish (Man City), Harry Kane (Spurs), Marcus Rashford (Man Utd), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Raheem Sterling (Man City), Callum Wilson (Newcastle)
Here are the big names that missed out, from the injury absences to the near-misses, and the Manchester Untied winger with a point to prove in 2023…
England’s injury absences
Southgate called Chelsea duo Ben Chilwell and Reece James “two of the best wing-backs in Europe” when addressing their absence due to injury, which naturally deals England a double blow.
The pair would have been pushing to start with Southgate recently favouring 3-4-3, making frequent use of James in particular, who was the starting right wing-back for England’s Nations League matches against Italy and Germany in September.
Chilwell, an unused substitute against Germany, pulled up with a hamstring injury in Chelsea’s Champions League win over Dinamo Zagreb on 2 November, while James sustained a knee injury against AC Milan on 11 October.
James underwent intensive rehabilitation and had been hoping to recover in time for the World Cup, and after being informed by Southgate that he would not feature, even suggested he would have been willing to take the “risk”.
“Devastated,” James said on Twitter. “The minute I injured my knee, I knew the turnaround to make the World Cup would be tight, but I always felt it was possible.
“I’ve worked harder than I ever thought I could to give myself the best chance of going and truly believed I could help the team. I appreciate there was risk on both sides but it was one I was willing to take. Good luck to the boys. I’ll be back soon. Stay safe and sending love.”
Kalvin Phillips and Kyle Walker were also injury concerns heading to the World Cup, but Southgate deemed the Manchester City duo fit enough to make the squad.
In September squad, out of World Cup
Beyond Chilwell and James, there are eight more players that made Southgate’s 28-man squad for the September internationals that have not been selected for Qatar two months later.
Arguably the headline omission is Ivan Toney, the Brentford striker who has scored eight Premier League goals so far this season and trails only Harry Kane (11) when it comes to English players. Toney has eight goals to Callum Wilson’s six, but the latter was favoured by Southgate for the role of Kane’s back-up.
Tammy Abraham and Jarrod Bowen have also dropped out, with Marcus Rashford recalled after failing to make the September squad. Southgate admitted Abraham “has had a poor run of scoring form at the wrong time”, although the Roma striker did score on the eve of the England squad announcement.
Meanwhile, Bowen’s omission perhaps reflects West Ham’s stuttering start to the season. The Hammers are 15th in the table, with Bowen scoring five goals in 20 appearances so far this term.
In terms of midfielders, it is heartache for James Ward-Prowse once more, with the Southampton captain narrowly missing out again after he was also snubbed for Euro 2020.
This time around it appears Chelsea’s Conor Gallagher has taken his place, although Southgate said Ward-Prowse is “really competing profile-wise” with Jude Bellingham and Jordan Henderson, adding: “He is just behind those guys, frankly. It’s as simple as that.”
Defenders Marc Guehi and Fikayo Tomori, of Crystal Palace and AC Milan respectively, also featured in September but did not make the World Cup cut.
Southgate did not address their omissions specifically, but Palace boss Patrick Vieira went on to say Guehi is an “ambitious player who wants the best for himself and wants to represent his country”, adding it was a “disappointment” for the 22-year-old.
Tomori, meanwhile, is seemingly a popular choice among England fans, but instead Southgate preferred Harry Maguire, John Stones, Eric Dier, Kyle Walker, Conor Coady and Ben White.
Tyrone Mings was not a September pick but is worth mentioning here. The Aston Villa defender’s odds were shortening just ahead of Thursday’s announcement (and were at one point 1-20 with Sky Bet) but as fans and journalists alike attempted to piece together the 26-man squad amid various reports before the 2pm reveal, the final uncertain slot appeared to go to Gallagher instead.
In goal, Dean Henderson’s exclusion is easily explained by the return of Southgate’s No 1, Jordan Pickford. Newcastle’s Nick Pope and Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsdale were also selected ahead of the Nottingham Forest goalkeeper.
What next for Jadon Sancho?
Manchester United reached an agreement in principle to sign Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund midway through last year’s European Championships.
The £73m transfer was completed shortly after Euro 2020, with the homecoming a chance for Sancho to prove a point: not only to Manchester City, who willingly sold the player to Dortmund in 2017, but to the wider footballing sphere.
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Fast forward almost one-and-a-half years, however, and his switch from the Bundesliga to the Premier League has proven stop-start at best. The arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo last summer initially pushed Rashford out wide, meaning Sancho had both his England teammate and Anthony Elanga for company when competing for two places towards the latter half of the 2021-22 season.
Sancho went on to record just five goals and three assists in all competitions last season, with the instability above him hardly helping matters either, having worked under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick before Erik ten Hag took the managerial reins in the summer.
Now, Sancho is getting a run in the side – albeit 18-year-old Alejandro Garnacho is emerging as a worthy challenger – but continues to be overlooked by Southgate amid a patchy run of form.
He has not featured in an England squad this year, last playing in October 2021, and so come 2023 he will not only be fighting to get his way to back into England contention, but also – it would appear – for a place in the United starting XI as well.
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