Football fans up in arms after Gareth Southgate announces pre World Cup England squad

Football fans up in arms after Gareth Southgate announces pre World Cup England squad

Rene Otinga
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:11 PM
In this article:
Jadon Sancho logo
J. Sancho
Borussia Dortmund logoFEngland logo
  • A large section of football fans on social media to lament on the just released England squad
  • Notable absentees from Southgate’s latest squad include Jadon Sancho, James Maddison and Ben White
  • Brentford striker Ivan Toney, however, got his maiden call up

Gareth Southgate on Thursday, September 15 announced his final pre World Cup England squad, with some surprise inclusions and absentees.

Uncapped Brentford forward Ivan Toney was the most notable name to make it to the squad as he is set to represent England for the first time.

The likes of Dean Henderson, as well as defenders Eric Dier and Ben Chilwell, were also called up for The Three Lions’ final competitive matches before the World Cup in November.

Southgate, Jadon Sancho
Gareth Southgate, Manager of England talks to Jadon Sancho during the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifier match between Andorra and England at Estadi Nacional on October 09, 2021. Photo by Eddie Keogh.
Source: Getty Images

In defence, Harry Maguire also made the list despite being relegated to the bench by Erik Ten Hag at Manchester United in recent weeks.

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However, there was a controversial absentee from the squad – United winger Jadon Sancho.

The former Borussia Dortmund man has been in superb form at club level, starting all six Premier League games under Ten Hag.

However, despite his stats and recent performances, Southgate snubbed the 22-year old in favor of Manchester City’s Jack Grealish.

Fan reaction

Football fans did not take long before coming for Southgate for his decision to leave out Sancho, with many now concluding that the England boss did not like the Manchester United winger.

Here are some of the reactions following the snub:

"Bowen Mount and Grealish getting called up instead of Sancho when he has more g/a itl than all of them
"It’s sad how Sancho left Germany to go back to England so he can improve his National Team chances
"I speak for every football fan in the world when I say: England doesn’t deserve Jadon Sancho.
"Sancho, Maddison & Ben White have be absolutely robbed.
"Southgate’s selections make zero sense. He dropped Sancho when Ole wasn’t playing him, fair enough. But why’s Luke Shaw being selected when he no longer starts? Why’s Grealish and Mount being called up when they’re in very bad form at the moment?
Authors
Rene Otinga photo
Rene Otinga
Rene Otinga is a sports journalist with over eight years of working experience in digital media. Rene's experience includes working as a Copywriter at X News Kenya and TUKO.co.ke.