England World Cup Squad Announcement Live: Gareth Southgate Names His 23 For Russia 2018

Gareth Southgate has announced his 23-man England squad for the World Cup in Russia.

The England manager has decided to name his final 23 before the team's two upcoming friendly games against Nigeria and Costa Rica.

Two men that won't be making the squad are goalkeeper Joe Hart and Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere as news broke on Tuesday that neither would be going to Russia this summer. That opens the door for Burnley's Nick Pope as one of the three goalkeepers on the plane, although he is yet to earn a cap for England.

There has been plenty of debate as to whether there will be any surprises in the squad, although Southgate has played everything with a straight bat since he took over as England boss in 2016. Trent Alexander Arnold, Ashley Young and Fabian Delph all got call-ups whilst Tom Heaton,James Tarkowski Lewis Cook have been placed on standby.

England World Cup 2018 23-Man Squad:

• Jack Butland (Stoke)
• Jordan Pickford (Everton)
• Nick Pope (Burnley)
• John Stones (Man City)
• Phil Jones (Man Utd)
• Kyle Walker (Man City)
• Gary Cahill (Chelsea)
• Danny Rose (Tottenham)
• Harry Maguire (Leicester)
• Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
• Ashley Young (Man Utd)
• Kieran Trippier (Tottenham)
• Jordan Henderson (Liverpool)
• Eric Dier (Tottenham)
• Dele Alli (Tottenham)
• Jesse Lingard (Man Utd)
• Raheem Sterling (Man City)
• Fabian Delph (Man City)
• Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Crystal Palace)
• Harry Kane (Tottenham)
• Jamie Vardy (Leicester)
• Marcus Rashford (Man Utd)
• Danny Welbeck (Arsenal)

Those definitely missing through injury include Liverpool's Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Joe Gomez, whilst Southgate said that 19/20 players were assured their place providing they were fit as long ago as the last friendly matches against the Netherlands and Italy.

The newly assembled squad will meet up for two friendlies against Nigeria on the 2nd June and Costa Rica on the 7th, whilst England's first game of the World Cup takes place against Tunisia on the 18th June.