The 33-man England Euro 2024 squad has been announced today by Gareth Southgate and a few of his selections have raised eyebrows among football fans across the country.
The England boss has made some big calls with the likes of Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Jordan Henderson, Dominic Solanke and Kalvin Phillips all missing out while youngsters Kobbie Mainoo and Adam Wharton have made it.
Southgate will conduct a training camp over the next couple of weeks with the 33 players who have been selected and could choose to see some of them in action in friendlies against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iceland at the beginning of June before picking his final squad.
The 53-year-old has until 11pm on June 7 to announce his final 26-man squad for Euro 2024 with the tournament set to start a week later on June 14. England's first match is against Serbia on June 15.
Full England Euro 2024 squad
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), James Trafford (Burnley), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)
Defenders: Jarrad Branthwaite (Everton), Lewis Dunk (Brighton), Joe Gomez (Liverpool), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Harry Maguire (Man Utd), Jarell Quansah (Liverpool), Kyle Walker (Man City), Luke Shaw (Man Utd), John Stones (Man City), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle),
Midfielders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Curtis Jones (Liverpool), Kobbie Mainoo (Man Utd), Declan Rice (Arsenal)
Forwards: Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), Phil Foden (Man City), Jack Grealish (Man City), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa), James Maddison (Tottenham), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ivan Toney (Brentford)
Fans react to England Euro 2024 squad
As expected, some fans on social media were left reeling with some of Southgate's decisions because ultimately, he was never going to be able to please everyone.
Marcus Rashford has obviously had an average season, but he’s a big- game player who has delivered for England at tournaments in the past. Southgate has made a mistake.
— Sam Pilger (@sampilger) May 21, 2024
Perhaps most peculiar were comments from Man Utd fans who have spent the entire season rightly lambasting Marcus Rashford for his performances only to now be perplexed at his exclusion. One said: “Don't care what anyone says about this or about his form but no Marcus Rashford in the England squad is an absolute disgrace.”
Another added: “Not taking a player of Marcus Rashford’s qualities to an international tournament is absolutely mental.”
Other fans weren't particularly happy with the decision to call up certain individuals. One said: “So Wharton has been playing very well for a bottom half team for *checks notes* 16 games. Morgan Gibbs-White has been doing the same for nearly 2 years.
Another took aim at Jack Grealish's selection, saying: “Grealish making the squad basically delegitimized every reason Southgate has for not taking Rashford.”