Official: England Announce World Cup Squad

England coach Gareth Southgate has announced his 26-man squad that will feature in the FIFA World Cup.

Southgate, who selected a 55-man preliminary squad at the end of October, has to whittle that down to a final group of 26 for the tournament, which runs from November 20 to December 18.

England were drawn in Group B alongside Iran, the USA and Wales, kicking off their tournament on 21 November against Iran.

The Three Lions will approach this World Cup having taken huge strides at major tournaments under Southgate. Their semi-final appearance in Russia in 2018 was their first since 1990 and only their second in history..

Their subsequent run to the final of the European Championship last year was unprecedented, losing to Italy on penalties.

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But the optimism generated during those tournaments has somewhat faded over the last year and the atmosphere around the national team has turned a bit more toxic after their four-game winless run at the end of last season which culminated in a 4-0 thrashing by Hungary.

Southgate’s squad, while not without its flaws, is also replete with talent. In Harry Kane, they will have one of the best strikers in Qatar. There is guile and creativity behind him too. Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka, Jude Bellingham are all older, wiser and, hopefully, better.

Southgate had to make several tough calls, with Fikayo Tomori, Tammy Abraham, Jarrod Bowen, Joe Gomez, Ivan Toney, James Ward-Prowse and Jadon Sancho all being left out of England, while James Maddison, Callum Wilson, Ben White, Conor Gallagher and Kyle Walker all made the squad.

Full England squad: