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Maddison and Wilson get surprise calls for England World Cup squad

Joshua Donaldson
Updated
Maddison has just one England cap before travelling to Qatar
Maddison has just one England cap before travelling to QatarProfimedia
James Maddison's (25) good form for Leicester City has been rewarded with a place on the plane to Qatar with England to the World Cup. Callum Wilson (30) and Connor Gallagher (22) have also been called up by Gareth Southgate (52) in the 26-man squad.

The most notable absentees from the list are James Ward-Prowse (28), whose form for his club side Southampton was not enough to earn him a spot. Others missing are Ivan Toney (26) of Brentford, Tammy Abraham of Roma, and Fikayo Tomori (24), who has impressed with AC Milan this season and last. 

Chelsea defenders Ben Chilwell (25) and Reece James (22) have also missed out through injury, with Southgate opting to take just one natural left back, Luke Shaw (27), with him to Qatar, banking on Kieran Trippier (32) to be cover on both flanks.

Up front, Southgate has named eight forwards in his 26-man squad with Maddison and Wilson both going to Qatar thanks to their fine form in the Premier League with Leicester and Newcastle United respectively.

Maddison will be unlikely to start for England given he has just one cap for his country, but he adds something different to a squad known for their 3-4-3 formation.

There are injury concerns with the squad given that Kyle Walker (32) and Kalvin Phillips (26) are going into the tournament with very little football in the last two months.

England start their campaign against Iran on November 21 at the World Cup. They are joined by Wales and USA in Group B.

England Squad

Goalkeepers

Jordan Pickford (Everton)

Nick Pope (Newcastle United)

Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)

Defenders

Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)

Conor Coady (Everton)

Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur)

Harry Maguire (Manchester United)

Luke Shaw (Manchester United)

John Stones (Manchester City)

Kieran Trippier (Newcastle United)

Kyle Walker (Manchester City

Ben White (Arsenal)

Midfielders

Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund)

Conor Gallagher (Chelsea)

Jordan Henderson (Liverpool)

Mason Mount (Chelsea)

Kalvin Phillips (Manchester City)

Declan Rice (West Ham United)

Forwards

Phil Foden (Manchester City)

Jack Grealish (Manchester City)

Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)

James Maddison (Leicester City)

Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)

Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)

Raheem Sterling (Chelsea)

Callum Wilson (Newcastle United)

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