England’s preparations for the Qatar World Cup haven’t exactly gone to plan as they’ve been relegated from their Nations League group....CONTINUE READING THE FULL ARTICLE>>>
Gareth Southgate’s side lost 1-0 to Italy in Milan on Friday, leaving them with just two points from their five matches played so far.
With the World Cup now less than two months away, Southgate has a tough job on his hands to get the Three Lions in shape for Qatar.
With so much work for the boss to do, we’ve decided to make life a bit easy for him and pick his 26-man squad for the tournament.
Using a template already created on Tiermaker, we’ve placed England players into six different categories depending on their chances of playing at the Qatar World Cup.
We have no doubt you will all disagree with our opinion. After all, selecting 26 players for England’s squad certainly isn’t an easy task.
But from ‘Watching at home’ to ‘Starting XI’ here is our ranking of England players ahead of the greatest competition in sport.
Watching at home
Tyrone Mings
Jesse Lingard
Ollie Watkins
Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Sam Johnstone
Callum Wilson
Like the rest of the nation, these six players will likely be watching the World Cup at home in front of their fires.
Johnstone is probably England’s fifth choice goalkeeper right now with Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale, Nick Pope and Dean Henderson ahead of him in the pecking order.
As for Mings, the Aston Villa defender looks to be well out of favour and needs a miracle to make the World Cup squad.
Lingard probably needs an even bigger miracle with plenty of midfielders ahead of him.
Meanwhile, strikers Watkins, Calvert-Lewin and Wilson stand better chances of making the squad but will need an incredible run of form in the coming weeks to be in contention.
Will be lucky to make it
Harvey Barnes
Emile Smith Rowe
Eberechi Eze
Ruben Loftus-Cheek
This quartet will still be dreaming of playing at World this winter but they’ll need a lot of luck if they are to be in Gareth Southgate’s 26-man squad.
The four midfielders probably have an equal chance of going to the World Cup but find themselves behind the likes of Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham, Mason Mount, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish amongst others.
Outside chance
Joe Gomez
Fikayo Tomori
James Ward-Prowse
Conor Coady
Jarrod Bowen
Tammy Abraham
James Maddison
In truth, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see any of these names on the plane to Qatar.
Let’s start with the defenders in Gomez, Tomori and Coady. The latter two probably stand a better chance than Gomez at the time of writing but they’re still relying on injuries to John Stones, Harry Maguire, Eric Dier and other senior defenders.
In midfield, Ward-Prowse and Maddison are on the fringes and some decent performances between now and November could see them named in the squad.
Abraham’s case probably isn’t helped by the fact he’s playing in Italy with Roma but he definitely stands a chance of being included.
Bowen’s lack of form this season has seen him be edged out of contention but still harbour hopes of being there in Qatar.
Should be on the plane
Nick Pope
Eric Dier
Kieran Trippier
Jadon Sancho
Ivan Toney
Trent Alexander-Arnold
Kalvin Phillips
Luke Shaw
Marcus Rashford
Barring injuries, we reckon these nine players will be in the squad for England’s World Cup campaign.
Pope is England’s third-choice goalkeeper and started against Italy on Friday.
Dier is playing regularly for Tottenham and is capable of playing in a back-five for England.
Shaw, Trippier and Alexander-Arnold provide options at full-back and wing-back and should be included.
Phillips isn’t playing too much at Manchester City but was a standout at Euro 2020 for Southgate’s England.
In attack, Sancho’s form this season will have pleased Southgate while Rashford is also returning to his best.
Toney looks to be the best choice to play back up to Kane after being named in England’s recent squad.
Definitely in the squad
Reece James
Kyle Walker
Declan Rice
Bukayo Saka
Aaron Ramsdale
Jordan Henderson
Jude Bellingham
Raheem Sterling
Ben Chilwell
Mason Mount
Jack Grealish
If fit, we fully expect these 11 players to be in the squad – and possibly starting England’s opener against Iran.
Ramsdale will play back-up to Pickford but will no doubt have hopes of being named Southgate’s No.1 before the tournament starts.
Chilwell looks likely to play on the left side of defence, while James and Walker will also be looking to start – either at right centre-back in a back three or at right back/right wing-back.
Rice, Henderson, Bellingham and Mount will be looking to start in midfield.
Further forward, Saka, Sterling and Grealish will be pushing for one of the front-three.
Starting XI
Jordan Pickford
Harry Maguire
John Stones
Phil Foden
Harry Kane
In our eyes, there are just five England players who are nailed on to start the World Cup if they’re fit.
As mentioned, Pickford has been Southgate’s No.1 and will surely remain so.
The Three Lions aren’t exactly blessed with world-class defenders so Maguire and Stones starting looks a formality regardless of their club form.
Foden will surely start in midfield, while captain Kane will lead the line.
Final rankings
So, there we have it.
We’ve done Southgate’s hard work for him and picked his 26-man England squad. Well, we’ve actually picked 25 players in the ‘Starting XI’, ‘Definitely in the squad,’ and ‘Should be on the plane’ categories. That leaves Southgate the task of picking the 26th player from the ‘Outside chance’ category.
Of course, it wouldn’t be England if the preparation process wasn’t damaged by a major injury or two.
All we can do is pray that all the key players stay fit in the coming weeks and months of Premier League football ahead of the tournament.
We’re sure that our selections will upset plenty of you out there but have a go selecting your 25-man squad yourselves – it’s not easy!
England World Cup squad
