England's World Cup squad revealed: Maddison called up; White, Rashford, Wilson all in

England boss Gareth Southgate has included Leicester City midfielder James Maddison in his squad for the World Cup in Qatar, while Ben White, Marcus Rashford and Callum Wilson are among the other stars named.

There were very few expected surprises as Southgate announced their squad at 2pm on Thursday with much of the squad having previous tournament experience under the former Middlesbrough manager.

Maddison was the biggest surprise of the day, with many fans doubting he would select the Leicester City star despite his fine form in the Premier League this season.

The 25-year-old has scored six goals and four assists in 12 Premier League appearances this season, which is all the more impressive with the Foxes struggling on the wrong end of the table.

Maddison's one and only England cap came in November 2019 when he replaced Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the 56th minute of England's 7-0 win over Montenegro in their qualifying campaign for Euro 2020.

Southgate have decided to take Newcastle United's Wilson, Tottenham's Harry Kane and Manchester United's Marcus Rashford as their top three striking options, while Chelsea's Raheem Sterling can also play in the middle.

Wilson has entered Southgate's thinking this season with his six goals and two assists in ten Premier League appearances, helping Newcastle to third place in the Premier League table.

Other suitors such as Roma's Tammy Abraham and Brentford's Ivan Toney are absent, with Wilson being favored over the pair.

Elsewhere, Fikayo Tomori and Marc Guehi were overlooked with versatile Arsenal defender White given the chance to impress.

Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse is another player who should be close to the side that have missed out with the underperforming Saints this season and the sacking of manager Ralph Hasenhuttl last week.< /p>

The full England squad:

Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope, Aaron Ramsdale; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Conor Coady, Eric Dier, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, John Stones, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker, Ben White; Jude Bellingham, Conor Gallagher, Jordan Henderson, Mason Mount, Kalvin Phillips, Declan Rice; Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Harry Kane, James Maddison, Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka, Raheem Sterling, Callum Wilson.

Giving his thoughts on England's potential World Cup squad last week, former Newcastle United striker Alan Shearer predicted that Maddison and Wilson could be called up.

"I would definitely take Leicester City's James Maddison, who is playing exceptionally well and my only point of debate would be whether he starts or not - although there is clearly something Gareth doesn't like about him ", Shearer told Athletics.

"In attack, I dropped Ivan Toney from Brentford and opted for Tammy Abraham and Callum Wilson.

"I understand that if England are to win the World Cup they will almost certainly have to win a penalty shootout somewhere down the line and I understand the clamor for Toney to be involved.

"But I would be a bit concerned about how his physique might be perceived by referees at the highest level. Wilson has long-standing fitness issues but has been brilliant for Newcastle United.

"Harry Kane remains England's key player. Gareth will be sitting down to a game this weekend with everything he needs to ensure nothing untoward happens to his captain and talisman, who may have having been eclipsed by Erling Haaland in the goalscoring charts, but who is otherwise in fine form.

"In Jude Bellingham, we have a superstar in the making with the potential to set the world on fire, so in that respect it's exciting."