James Maddison is the shock inclusion in England’s World Cup squad.
Leicester midfielder Maddison, 25, has been in outstanding form for his club this season and, despite only having one cap three years ago, he is in from the cold. Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker has been championing Maddison’s form and claimed last weekend it would be a “travesty” if he missed out.
Despite the fierce competition in the wide areas and England not playing with a No10, Gareth Southgate has listened and watched him in recent weeks. There was also a call-up for Newcastle striker Callum Wilson who got the nod ahead of Ivan Toney and Tammy Abraham while Mirror Sport has revealed Dominic Calvert-Lewin has suffered a fresh injury setback and misses out.
Kyle Walker is also included in the squad which flies to Qatar on Tuesday despite not yet playing for Manchester City after undergoing groin surgery last month. City midfielder Kalvin Phillips is also in despite his recent injury problems and having been involved in a race against time to be in.
Arsenal’s versatile defender Ben White also gets the nod to strengthen Southgate’s options at the back. Eric Dier is also in but there was heartbreak for James Ward-Prowse, Jarrod Bowen, Marc Guehi and Fikayo Tomori.
They have all been recent inclusions but miss the boat this time. England boss Southgate has continually resisted calls for Maddison so that has to be seen as the joker in the pack.
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Maddison has spoken regularly about his desire to get back into the England squad and has enjoyed a brilliant run of form which has pushed his cause. Southgate unveiled his squad but will be hoping that they get no fresh injuries this weekend with even Spurs boss Antonio Conte saying Harry Kane is tired and fatigued.
England do have a final cut-off time of Monday afternoon to make changes should any injuries occur.
Full England squad for Qatar World Cup
Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford ( Everton ), Nick Pope (Newcastle), Aaron Ramsdale ( Arsenal )
Defenders: Harry Maguire (Man Utd), John Stones (Man City), Kyle Walker (Man City), Luke Shaw (Man Utd), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle), Trent Alexander-Arnold ( Liverpool ), Eric Dier ( Tottenham ), Conor Coady (Everton), Ben White (Arsenal)
Midfielders: Declan Rice ( West Ham ), Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Mason Mount ( Chelsea ), Kalvin Phillips (Man City), James Maddison ( Leicester ), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea)
Attackers: Harry Kane (Tottenham), Phil Foden (Man City), Raheem Sterling (Chelsea), Marcus Rashford (Man Utd), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Jack Grealish (Man City), Callum Wilson (Newcastle)
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Missing out
Dean Henderson (Nottingham Forest)
Fikayo Tomori (AC Milan), Marc Guehi ( Crystal Palace ), Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa), Tyrick Mitchell (Crystal Palace), Reece James (Chelsea), Joe Gomez (Liverpool)
James Ward-Prowse ( Southampton ), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea)
Ivan Toney (Brentford), Jadon Sancho (Man Utd), Tammy Abraham (Roma), Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)
*FREE England wall chart in this weekend's Sunday Mirror and People.
