Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho face missing this year’s World Cup after being left out of Gareth Southgate’s last England squad before the finals begin in November.
Southgate named a 28-man squad on Thursday for UEFA Nations League matches against Italy and Germany later this month, which included a first call-up for Brentford’s Ivan Toney and the recalls of Chelsea defender Ben Chilwell and Tottenham Hotspur‘s Eric Dier.
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Manchester United’s Harry Maguire kept his place and Luke Shaw was brought back in despite both finding themselves marginalised under Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford but two other United players who have shown signs of rediscovering their best in recent weeks were omitted.
Rashford was already a doubt with a thigh problem but Sancho is available and was hopeful of a return to the senior setup after an upturn in form which featured goals against Liverpool and Leicester City.
Sancho’s last call-up came in October 2021 while Rashford has been overlooked since November last year.
“This is a bigger than normal squad and part of the rationale is that we are very close to a World Cup and we feel, although our results were disappointing in the summer, we have picked on the basis of form and capability over a long period,” Southgate said in a statement.
“There were certain players we wanted to keep involved this time, but that said it doesn’t mean that this is the end for some of the others who aren’t involved. Marcus Rashford, for example, has shown some encouraging signs recently. He is a player we know well so if he can perform at a high level in the next few weeks, he of course will be under consideration.
