England Euro 2024 squad: Who will Gareth Southgate will take to Germany?

Southgate has been pretty consistent with his goalkeeper selections, sticking with the trio of Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale and Sam Johnstone since June 2023. However, Johnstone will miss the tournament after suffering an elbow injury in March, and his place will now go to either club-mate Dean Henderson or Burnley’s James Trafford.

Pickford has been the undisputable No.1 since Southgate first took charge in 2016, and that is unlikely to change now. He has continued to perform superbly for Everton, keeping the second-highest number of clean sheets in the Premier League despite the Toffees’ struggles.

England’s defence has also been pretty consistent under Southgate, and the same back three of Kyle Walker, John Stones and Harry Maguire that lined up at the 2018 World Cup could also all start the Three Lions’ first game of the Euros against Serbia.

However, there have been a number of big injury setbacks across the defence over the past 12 months, meaning Southgate has stocked up, especially at centre-back. It remains to be seen whether Luke Shaw can prove his fitness, too, with the Manchester United left-back having made just four league appearances since the turn of the year.

Uncapped duo Jarrad Branthwaite and Jarell Quansah, meanwhile, are among those fighting for places in the final 26-man squad for Germany.

The midfield is a curious area for England, as they have two of the best operators in the world in Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham, and then plenty of question marks over who should play alongside them.

Conor Gallagher has been most in-form midfielder aside from Rice and Bellingham, but Trent Alexander-Arnold is also an option after Southgate brought him into midfield towards the end of 2023. Manchester United teenagerKobbie Mainoo, meanwhile, impressed against Brazil and Belgium in March, and is certainly in the conversation when it comes to potential starters.

Southgate has also selected uncapped duo Curtis Jones and Adam Wharton, the latter of whom has enjoyed a meteoric rise after joining Crystal Palace from Blackburn Rovers in January.

Southgate could hardly ask for a better set of forwards to choose from, and there is a case to made that England have the highest number of quality attackers in the world.

As well as Kane, who 44 goals in his debut campaign at Bayern, Watkins is in the form of his life, and he picked up the Premier League Playmaker of the Year award for the most assists in the division this season to go with his 19 goals.

There is also no shortage of outstanding wide forwards, with Anthony Gordon and Cole Palmer recently joining the fray to complement the highly-experienced yet still remarkably young Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden.

Southgate is notorious for sticking to his guns and refraining from experiments, especially in major tournaments. Even fair-weather England fans with only basic knowledge of the team could probably guess the team he will pick in Germany and get it spot-on.

The main areas of interest are at left-back, where Shaw (if fit)l will be fighting against Kieran Trippier, who has had an up-and-down season. The United defender also has the advantage of being left-footed, unlike Trippier.

The other unknown is how the front six players will line up, and who will join Rice, Bellingham, Kane, Saka and Foden in the starting XI. Alexander-Arnold, Palmer, Mainoo and Gallagher are currently the front-runners, but much will depend on just how daring Southgate wants to be from the outset.

Ben White has asked not to be called up to the squad, taking a rare and controversial decision to shirk national duty after leaving the team in the middle of the 2022 World Cup for ‘personal reasons’. His decision deprives Southgate of one of the most in-form right-backs in the Premier League, although at least England have no shortage of options in that position, as illustrated by Reece James’ omission.

The Chelsea full-back will be joined by team-mates Ben Chilwell and Raheem Sterling in watching the tournament from home, as the veterans were left out alongside midfield mainstays Jordan Henderson and Kalvin Phillips, and Manchester United’s out-of-form forward Marcus Rashford.