England squad announcement LIVE: All the latest news and updates as Gareth Southgate unveils squad to face Australia and Italy
Follow Mail Sport’s live blog for the latest news as Gareth Southgate announces his England squad to take on Australia and Italy in October.
Defoe reveals how Sven's 2006 World Cup snub almost led to revolt
Jermain Defoe has revealed his ‘hurt’ at missing out on the 2006 England World Cup squad to teenager Theo Walcott – as he claimed his team-mates wanted to revolt against Sven-Goran Eriksson’s decision.
England manager Eriksson caused a stir when he picked 17-year-old Walcott – who hadn’t even played a first-team match for Arsenal at that point – over Tottenham ‘s Defoe for the tournament in Germany.
Defoe, a fairly established England international, was only named on the squad stand-by list and travelled to Germany initially before returning home when Wayne Rooney was passed fit to play following a foot injury.
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Reports that Bowen has won a call-up
Jarrod Bowen has been handed a call-up to Gareth Southgate’s latest England squad but there is no place for his West Ham team-mate James Ward-Prowse, according to The Athletic.
Bowen has made a fine start to the campaign and has netted five times in seven Premier League games. So too has Ward-Prowse, who was signed from Southampton in the summer, but that run of form has not been recognised by the England boss.
Despite registering three assists and scoring two goals since his £30m move, the 28-year-old will be absent from games against Australia and Italy.
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Is this the MADDEST World Cup ever?
England’s focus is on Euro 2024, of course, but thought in some quarters have already turned to the 2030 World Cup – and it’s certainly an interesting proposal from FIFA to mark the tournament’s 100th anniversary.
The official hosts will be Spain, Portugal and Morocco, which makes sense geographically.
But it has also been revealed the first three games in the tournaments will take place in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay in a nod to the South American roots of the World Cup.
All six host countries will qualify for the 48-team finals automatically.
So the teams drawn to play in those opening games face a long-haul trip to kick-off their tournament before returning across the Atlantic.
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Who else is out?
Saka is merely the latest addition to a lengthy England injury list that has limited the pool of players Southgate has to choose from today.
The main problem is at left-back where both Luke Shaw and Ben Chilwell are both out at the moment. Southgate will have to improvise – Levi Colwill, who has been playing left-back for Chelsea this season, could drop in or Kieran Trippier may move across.
Rico Henry of Brentford, who might have come in for Shaw and Chilwell, is also injured.
Palace’s Eberechi Eze is also sidelined with a hamstring injury.
Saka the latest addition to England’s injury list
Bad news for Southgate this week as one of his regular starters, Bukayo Saka of Arsenal, suffered a hamstring injury playing against Lens in the Champions League.
While we’re waiting to discover the full extent of the damage, Saka is clearly a doubt for the upcoming internationals and may not be risked.
Southgate has been kept up to speed with Saka’s issue as he prepares to finalise his squad today.
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The state of play for England in qualifying
England moved a tiny step closer to next summer’s European Championship in Germany last month when they earned a 1-1 draw against Ukraine in the Polish city of Wroclaw.
Southgate’s men then produced a very good performance when they beat Auld Enemy Scotland 3-1 in a Hampden Park friendly a few nights later.
In terms of qualifying, they sit top of Group C with 13 points out of a possible 15 so far. That puts them six clear of Italy, Ukraine and North Macedonia, who all have seven points.
A positive result against Italy at Wembley on October 17 and England are pretty much there.
If they can’t get that, November sees very winnable matches at home to Malta and away to North Macedonia to conclude the qualifying tournament.
Who gets the call-up?
Gareth Southgate selects his latest England squad this afternoon as the Three Lions prepare for the friendly with Australia and the important Euro 2024 qualifier against Italy later this month.
But the England boss has been hit with a number of injury blows in recent days and weeks could leave his squad looking slightly different to usual.
Arsenal star Bukayo Saka became the latest injury worry and England will be short at left-back after Luke Shaw and Ben Chilwell suffered setbacks.
Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze won’t be getting another call-up either after he suffered a hamstring injury.
We’ll find out in an hour or so who Southgate has picked for the upcoming international double-header, so please stay tuned.
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