According to the BBC, England has officially announced their World Cup squad, days after Brazil and the United States announced theirs. The deadline still remains on 14th November and those that haven’t announced their players would need to think critically.
James Maddison, Leicester’s proud midfielder has been named to join his country’s 26-man team for their match in Qatar. Gareth Southgate, the controversial manager, has also selected Marcus Rashford from Manchester United.
Players from Newcastle United, Manchester City and Arsenal were also selected to join their country’s national team. Unfortunately for Fikayo Tomori, Ivan Toney and Jarrod Bowen, they were all missing from the list that was selected by Southgate.
Furthermore, on the 21st of November, England will play against Iran in their World Cup debut. Ironically, Ukraine did not get a chance to play this time even after their lobbying to remove said Middle Eastern country from the World Cup list.
Kalvin Phillips is in the squad even after a two month absence due to his shoulder injury. Manchester United’s Harry Maguire who has struggled to get a game this season is also in the list. Unfortunately Jadon Sancho was not selected by Southgate.
Here is the list of all the English players:
Defenders: Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), Eric Dier (Tottenham), John Stones (Manchester City), Kyle Walker (Manchester City), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle), Conor Coady (Everton), Ben White (Arsenal), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool).
Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Declan Rice (West Ham), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Kalvin Phillips (Manchester City).
Forwards: James Maddison (Leicester), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Tottenham), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Raheem Sterling (Chelsea), Callum Wilson (Newcastle), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United).
Fans reaction towards England’s squad
First and foremost, a fan questioned Southgate’s decision of letting Gallagher in the team. Southgate has stated before that he would not let any players in just on the fact of their popularity.
Fans questioned that statement due to the fact that he let Maguire, Dier and Phillips in. However, other fans responded that these three players have played well under Southgate’s instructions and management.
More fans were disrespecting Jordan Henderson. They questioned what his aim was and what he would do in the matches. Fans are not particularly excited for the current lineup of players and are making memes that England might lose the World Cup this year. However, we will just have to wait and see.
More stories related to the FIFA 2022 World Cup here.