England confirm 26-man squad for Euro 2020

England manager Gareth Southgate has made the necessary cuts to his provisional Euro 2020 squad to name the final 26-player squad for the tournament that kicks off later this month.

Southgate had initially named 33 players on a preliminary list and was tasked with trimming seven names from it to meet the expanded squad limit for the finals.

Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold has survived the cull, despite strong rumours that he would be left out of the final squad, although he could be utilised as a midfielder instead of his usual full-back role.

Jesse Lingard hasn’t made the final list, having initially played his way back into contention thanks to a phenomenal impact on loan at West Ham in the second half of the campaign.

Sheffield United’s Aaron Ramsdale is the spare goalkeeper that has been let go. Ben Godfrey, Ben White, James Ward-Prowse and Ollie Watkins have all also missed out after making the original 33-player squad, while Manchester United's Mason Greenwood had earlier pulled out with an injury a few hours before the announcement.

Despite fitness concerns, experienced duo Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson are both included.
Maguire missed the end of Manchester United’s season, while Henderson’s last game for Liverpool was in February. However, the latter did at least return to the bench on 23 May.

Final 26-player England squad for Euro 2020

Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Man Utd), Sam Johnstone (West Brom), Jordan Pickford (Everton)

Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Ben Chilwell (Chelsea), Conor Coady (Wolves), Reece James (Chelsea), Harry Maguire (Man Utd), Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa), Luke Shaw (Man Utd), John Stones (Man City), Kieran Trippier (Atletico Madrid), Kyle Walker (Man City)

Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Kalvin Phillips (Leeds), Declan Rice (West Ham)

Forwards: Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton), Phil Foden (Man City), Jack Grealish (Aston Villa), Harry Kane (Tottenham), Marcus Rashford (Man Utd), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund), Raheem Sterling (Man City)

England shirt numbers for Euro 2020

Jack Grealish has been handed the number seven shirt for the tournament ahead of Jadon Sancho, hinting at a major role for the Aston Villa star. Raheem Sterling will wear number 10, as he often has done in the past for England, while Harry Kane takes the number nine.

What's next for England?

Now the squad is final, England will play warm up games against Austria and Romania at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium on 2 June and 6 June respectively.

The Three Lions will then have a week to prepare for their eagerly awaited opening Euro 2020 match against Croatia on home soil at Wembley on 13 June, followed by further fixtures against Scotland and Czech Republic, both also at Wembley, on 18 June and 22 June respectively.

The top two countries in each group will qualify automatically for the last 16, with the four best third placed teams also progressing to the knockout stages.

England are among a handful of teams fancied to lift the trophy and will have the added advantage of playing a maximum of two games away from Wembley to reach the final.

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