England’s Euro 2024 squad LIVE: Jack Grealish and Harry Maguire miss out

Here it is. These are the 26-players who will travel to Germany for Euro 2024:

Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale, Dean Henderson.

Defenders: Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier, Joe Gomez, John Stones, Lewis Dunk, Marc Guehi, Ezri Konsa, Luke Shaw.

Midfielders: Declan Rice, Kobbie Mainoo, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Conor Gallagher, Adam Wharton, Jude Bellingham

Forwards: Bukayo Saka, Jarrod Bowen, Phil Foden, Eberechi Eze, Cole Palmer, Anthony Gordon, Ollie Watkins, Harry Kane, Ivan Toney.

“I spoke to some of the boys last night and some today. As early as we were able to once we had made decisions. Once we had made clear decisions we tried to make those decisions as quickly as we could really.

“There were one or two injury things that we had to confirm through training just to be certain. As I said I tried to tell them all as early as I could. I knew exactly last night where we were with James [Maddison] and didn’t want him to be hanging on and training when I knew I could tell him. I couldn’t do that with Jack until this morning…”

When asked about Grealish’s wider form, Southgate said: “I don’t think today would be a good day to talk about the bigger picture. I don’t think that would be fair. I have just delivered a really difficult conversation to a lad who is devastated. I think the world of him as a kid. Yes. I am not going to go any broader than that.”

When asked about the loss of Maguire at set-pieces, Southgate replied: “We’ll be different, we’ll have to find different strategies, different ways of working, Harry’s consistently been one of our main first contacts from set-plays but we have got other options within that, but we have got other opportunities to be creative in our set-plays as well.”

Southgate’s decision on Grealish ultimately came down to the fitness of other players, particularly Newcastle United’s Anthony Gordon. Once the England staff had sufficient information on Thursday morning, however, it was decided not to extend the situation much longer. The squad announcement had initially been planned for Saturday, but Southgate felt it was fairer to the players to do it sooner. It was why James Maddison had been informed the night before.

Gareth Southgate named an initial 33-man training squad that needed trimming to 26 players by 11pm on Friday, just over an hour after the final friendly against Iceland finishes.

But rather than wait until Uefa’s deadline, the England boss decided to announce the final cut on the eve of the Wembley send-off.

“There’s some disappointment today but there’ll be a lot of excitement about players we’ve selected and to see some of the players who mean we’ve got a different look about us in terms of how we play, and I think people will be captivated by that,” Southgate said, “As I’ve said, I’m trying to conduct myself respectfully because of the players who have gone today. But equally I’m hugely excited about the squad we’ve picked.”

The England boss named a 33-player preliminary squad for two warm-up matches against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iceland knowing that he would need to cut seven players ahead of the tournament. The squad announcement was due to take place on Saturday morning but as news filtered out of the camp that some big names had been cut the FA decided to bring forward the reveal.

Along with Maddison and Grealish, Harry Maguire will play no part at Euro 2024 with goalkeeper James Trafford, defenders Jarell Quansah and Jarrad Branthwaite and Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones the other players to be omitted.

England have selected youngsters Kobbie Mainoo and Adam Wharton in a youthful squad for Euro 2024, as Gareth Southgate axed several established names.

The manager left out a raft of high-profile players include James Maddison, Jack Grealish and the injured Harry Maguire from his final 26 players, having already axed Marcus Rashford, Jordan Henderson and Ben Chilwell from his training squad.

Wharton’s Crystal Palace teammate Eberechi Eze, West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen, Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa and Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon have all made the final squad. Lewis Dunk, Joe Gomez and Ivan Toney also made the cut.

The one area of the squad we haven’t yet analysed is the front line. The wingers make some sense, with Southgate going for the form and energy of Bowen and Gordon over the experience of Grealish and Maddison.

The more interesting pick is Ivan Toney, who was perhaps one of the three ‘additional’ players after squads were expanded from 23 to 26 by Uefa in April. That allowed Southgate to take an extra specialist striker in case of injuries.

As well as cover, Toney also provides a useful option off the bench either as a battering ram in the box to score, or as a penalty taker, given his prowess from the spot. Here is a bit of analysis looking at exactly that:

James Maddison has acknowledged he is distraught at being dropped from the England squad ahead of Euro 2024 this summer – and says he believes he offers enough to warrant a place in the 26-man squad.

Maddison took to social media to explain he felt he could “bring something different” to the Three Lions group and suggested he had been a “mainstay” throughout qualifying – he appeared in three of England’s eight games and was an unsused sub in three more – but also noted his displays during the second half of 2023/24 were not up to scratch.

Southgate had already informed James Maddison and Curtis Jones that they had failed to make the cut as he had to reduce a 33-man training party to a 26-player group to take, while goalkeeper James Trafford and centre-back Jarell Quansah are also expected to be omitted.

But Maguire’s absence will affect Southgate’s plans after the defender was a stalwart in his sides for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups and Euro 2020, when he was named in the team of the tournament and when England reached the final.