Why Jadon Sancho missed out on England's World Cup squad

Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho is believed to have left out of England’s 26-player World Cup this month over a drop in his form at club level.

Sancho has struggled to consistently perform since his £73m return to English football from a hugely successful spell at Borussia Dortmund. He has shown flashes of what he is capable of in a United shirt, but has more often flattered to deceive under three different managers.

The former Manchester City academy player was becoming an England regular while at Dortmund. He also went to Euro 2020 last year, although only managed 97 minutes in total.

Sancho had to pull out of the England squad in September 2021 with a minor injury. He was recalled the following month and got two assists in a World Cup qualifying win over Andorra. But he was left on the bench against Hungary a few days later and hasn’t been called up since.

The Telegraph has reported that Sancho wasn’t selected in the final World Cup squad ‘purely on his overall performances’ at club level. The 22-year-old missed a handful of recent games through illness but had already been disappointing on several occasions since a promising early in the campaign.

Although form was the reason for omission from the group travelling to Qatar next week, it has also been reported that Sancho was late for an England team meeting ahead of the aforementioned Andorra game. Gareth Southgate has a strict rule that meetings only start when everyone is presented, meaning the rest of the squad had to wait for Sancho to turn up.

During his final season alone at Dortmund, Sancho managed 36 combined goals and assists in 38 appearances in all competitions. In 52 games for United, he has produced a third of that output.