Seven England stars missing from World Cup squad amid Maddison hope

Southgate is hours away from naming his final 26 man squad

November 10, 2022 at 12:56 pm GMT

Gareth Southgate names his England squad for the upcoming World Cup at 2pm and, while who is in it is as of yet unclear, a clearer picture is emerging of who has missed out.

The England boss submitted a 55 man provisional squad as per FIFA regulations last month, but many of those, such as Ashley Young and Danny Welbeck, stood no chance of heading to Qatar. In reality, it had already been whittled down to around 30-35 names.

And, as per the Telegraph, plenty have already been told that they will not be on the plane as part of the final 26 man squad selected by the Three Lions coach.

Reece James had already been ruled out through injury, but Kyle Walker has made the cut, and it is looking positive for Manchester City teammate Kalvin Phillips too, who returned to action last night playing the final 40 minutes in a 2-0 Carabao Cup win over Chelsea.

Meanwhile, defensive duo Fikayo Tomori and Marc Guehi have both been told that they are not going to the World Cup, opening the door for Arsenal’s Ben White, who is expected to be included. Also missing is Joe Gomez, who has been in patchy form for Liverpool so far this campaign.

There could be a surprise in midfield too, with James Ward-Prowse not having been included by Gareth Southgate after a poor run of form for Southampton. Further forward, there is no space for either Brentford striker Ivan Toney or Roma forward Tammy Abraham, though Callum Wilson has been included.

Jarrod Bowen is also absent, leading to further hope that James Maddison’s fine form could be rewarded for a first call-up since 2019.