England manager Gareth Southgate has selected his squad for their opening Euro 2020.qualifying games against the Czech Republic and Poland later this month.
As widely expected, West Ham’s defensive midfielder Declan Rice was called up after recently switching his allegiance from the Republic of Ireland.
Rice, 20, hadn’t yet played a competitive senior international for the Irish and was entitled to apply to FIFA to make the switch.
The talented young Hammers player qualified for the Republic of Ireland through grandparents but was encouraged to request to switch to England after months of speculation.
Tom Heaton returned to the England camp for the first time since pre-tournament preparations prior to last summer’s FIFA World Cup finals and was joined in the squad by James Tarkowski and Harry Maguire.
Injured Tottenham player Harry Winks and United’s Jesse Lingard miss out and in-form Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse, who scored two free kicks against Manchester United and Tottenham in the last fortnight, was also not selected.
Manchester City midfielder Fabian Delph and Chelsea’s Ruben Loftus-Cheek were both trusted despite Delph only playing 118 minutes of football this year thanks to injuries and Loftus-Cheek limited to mainly cameo appearances from the bench this season.
Delph’s City team mate Phil Foden, 18, was named in the England U21 squad along with Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Angus Gunn who had also been tipped for senior calls.
England face the Czech Republic at Wembley on Friday, March 22, before jetting off to Podgorica to face Montenegro three days later.
ENGLAND SQUAD
GOALKEEPERS
Jack Butland (Stoke City), Tom Heaton (Burnley), Jordan Pickford (Everton),
DEFENDERS
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Ben Chilwell (Leicester City), Michael Keane (Everton), Harry Maguire (Leicester City), Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), James Tarkowski (Burnley), Kieran Trippier (Tottenham Hotspur), Kyle Walker (Manchester City),
MIDFIELDERS
Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur), Ross Barkley (Chelsea), Fabian Delph (Manchester City), Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea), Declan Rice (West Ham United)
FORWARDS
Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Callum Wilson (AFC Bournemouth)