England World Cup squad: Best XI of players who Gareth Southgate will not be taking to Qatar

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Gareth Southgate has finally named his England squad for the World Cup in Qatar, and there are a few notable absentees.

Ivan Toney has bizarrely been left out, while there is also no room for the consistently impressive Marc Guehi.

Now, let’s take a look at an entire XI of those who have been ignored by Southgate, despite having a case for a spot on the plane to Qatar.

England World Cup squad – who misses out?

Well, the biggest injustice in this XI surely has to be Toney’s exclusion.

The Brentford No.17 has been among the best strikers in the Premier League over the past 18 months, scoring 14 goals in all competitions last term, while following that up with eight Premier League goals already this season.

Jarrod Bowen can also feel hard done by, after registering an outstanding 31 goal involvements last season, and scoring five so far this term.

Over at Crystal Palace, Guehi has been unerringly consistent under Patrick Vieira – he made his England debut back in March against Switzerland, and has done nothing wrong since then to merit being dropped.

Also at Selhurst Park is Sam Johnstone, who has been overlooked with Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope and Aaron Ramsdale preferred – admittedly, he hasn’t played much football in south London, but the England international is still a fine goalkeeper with strong international experience.

There is also Eberechi Eze, who was actually in Southgate’s provisional squad for EURO 2020 before suffering a serious injury – the attacking midfielder has shone this season, and represents something different to the other options.

Ryan Sessegnon arguably deserved a place in the squad too, as Southgate tends to use wing-backs.

The Tottenham man has impressed under Antonio Conte this season, scoring two goals in 12 Premier League outings – the fact Ben Chilwell misses out through injury should also have seen Sessegnon named.

Then there is Joe Gomez and Fikayo Tomori, both of whom play a big part at Liverpool and AC Milan respectively.

The pair boast vast amounts of Champions League experience, and have won plenty of silverware in recent times, so they would have brought a winning mindset to Qatar.

The same can be said of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who has impressed for Chelsea this season, and boasts experience of a World Cup campaign from his involvement in Russia back in 2018.

Tammy Abraham can also feel unfortunate to be left behind. The Roma No.9 scored 27 goals last season to help José Mourinho win the UEFA Conference League, and has been in steady form with four goals so far this term.

Lastly, James Ward-Prowse has probably been a victim of Southampton’s struggles this season.

The 28-year-old is usually a regular in Southgate’s squads, but has now been axed as the Saints find themselves languishing in 18th place in the Premier League.

Of course, Southgate could still include some of the aforementioned names if his selections suffer injuries between now and the World Cup, but it seems this eleven will have to wait another four years for their chance.