England have confirmed a 26-man squad for their UEFA Nations League matches with Greece and the Republic of Ireland, which will be Lee Carsley‘s last two games in charge of the Three Lions.
Interim head coach Carsley will step aside for new permanent manager Thomas Tuchel at the start of next year, having taken the reins from Gareth Southgate following his resignation after Euro 2024.
Carsley has overseen three victories and one defeat from his four League B Group 2 games, masterminding two successes against Finland and one against Ireland in addition to the shock home loss to Greece.
England sit second in the section as a result – three points below unblemished leaders Greece, who they face in Athens on November 14 – three days before hosting Ireland at Wembley Stadium.
Carsley has summoned 26 players to St George’s Park for his final selection, including uncapped youngsters and injury doubts, and here, Sports Mole looks at the winners and losers from November’s squad.
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Chelsea face Arsenal in this weekend’s headline Premier League encounter, but both sides are sweating over the fitness of two influential players in Cole Palmer and Declan Rice.
However, both have been included in the England selection for the November period – suggesting that their issues are not overly serious – and Carsley has also placed his faith in two uncapped defenders in Lewis Hall and Taylor Harwood-Bellis.
Hall has cemented himself as Newcastle United‘s first-choice left-back in the 2024-25 campaign, winning the man of the match in their 1-0 victory over Arsenal last weekend, while Harwood-Bellis has shone in the Southampton backline since leaving Manchester City and captained Carsley’s England Under-21s to Euros glory last year.
Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones – still waiting for his first senior cap for England several months after his maiden call-up – is also included again, after pulling out of October’s squad due to the birth of his child.
Further back, Harwood-Bellis’s Southampton teammate Aaron Ramsdale has also been recalled to the England group for the first time since Euro 2024 on the back of a brilliant display in the Saints’ 1-0 win over Everton last weekend.
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With Ramsdale coming back into the ranks, Nick Pope has dropped out of the England team, although the Newcastle United goalkeeper is not the only one to be left disappointed by Carsley’s final calls.
Two high-profile Premier League playmakers – Aston Villa‘s Morgan Rogers and Tottenham Hotspur‘s James Maddison – have been snubbed by Carsley, although he affirmed in his press conference that the former is “not missing anything” as he prepares to go again for the Under-21s.
Interestingly, not a single Manchester United player has been included in Carsley’s 26-man troupe, as the injured Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw and Kobbie Mainoo are all absent, while Marcus Rashford is not included either.
West Ham United’s Jarrod Bowen has also missed out, as have Manchester City’s John Stones – still carrying a slight injury – and Arsenal’s Ben White, whose self-imposed exile from the national team setup is showing no signs of ending anytime soon.
England squad in full:
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Southampton)
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Lewis Hall (Newcastle United), Taylor Harwood-Bellis (Southampton), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Rico Lewis (Manchester City), Kyle Walker (Manchester City)
Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Conor Gallagher (Atletico Madrid), Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest), Angel Gomes (Lille), Curtis Jones (Liverpool), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Declan Rice (Arsenal)
Forwards: Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Noni Madueke (Chelsea), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Dominic Solanke (Tottenham Hotspur), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)
