England World Cup Squad | Coach Gareth Southgate selected the in-form James Maddison and Callum Wilson for England’s World Cup roster. Giving them their first call-ups to the national team in three years.
The 26-man squad that will be traveling to the Gulf next week has been revealed by Southgate. 11 days before they face Iran in the opening match of their group B campaign.
The most notable picks by Southgate are Newcastle striker Wilson and Leicester offensive midfielder Maddison. Southgate has generally kept with the tried and true. Wilson received his last squad four caps in November 2019 against Montenegro. And that was Maddison’s only appearance for England.
Marcus Rashford of Manchester United, who last saw action in Italy’s defeat in the Euro 2020 final, has also been called up. However, there is no room on Southgate’s Qatar roster for West Ham attacker Jarrod Bowen, or Brentford forward Ivan Toney. Or Roma forward Tammy Abraham.
Kyle Walker and Kalvin Phillips of Manchester City were selected despite their lack of match readiness. And Harry Maguire of Manchester United was selected despite his scant playing time.
Maddison joins England
England World Cup Squad | Ben White, a versatile defender from Arsenal, has been added to a group that only includes Luke Shaw. A pure left-back. Tyrone Mings, Marc Guehi, and Fikayo Tomori are among those that are absent.
Conor Gallagher of Chelsea was chosen, while James Ward-Prowse, the captain of Southampton, just missed being selected for a significant tournament.
When asked if his team had everything needed to win the World Cup. Southgate responded: “We’ve been trying to get the squad’s composition just right.
“The squad, in my opinion, is now more crucial than ever. You can alter practically half of the team during a game if you have five substitutes, so you should have a variety of options for various match situations and tournament stages.
With 26 players available, we were able to take a few risks that you might not have been able to take with 23 players, but we believe the balance is there and we have cover in the positions we need. We’ve had to fill in for a few players who aren’t yet fully fit.
We believe we have everything covered, however, there are some areas where we fall short on depth.
