Cole Palmer, Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden and Trent Alexander-Arnold are among the high-profile names that have withdrawn from England’s squad.
Roberto Casillas | Nov 12, 2024
England will face Greece and Ireland in the UEFA Nations League to complete the last two games of the Lee Carsley era as interim manager, but will do so without eight of the 26 players that were originally called up a week ago, the national team announced.
Cole Palmer, Levi Colwill, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Aaron Ramsdale are the players that won't travel to represent England in its final two games of 2024.
All eight players are nursing injuries of different extents and will remain with their respective clubs to get back to full fitness as soon as possible. It's an alarming amount of players withdrawing, but the enormous individual quality of all eight—especially the outfield players—is perhaps what's most worrying for an England side that's desperately trying to get back to League A of the Nations League.
The Three Lions quickly got to work on finding replacements for its injured stars. Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers received his first England call up, while Newcastle's Tino Livramento and Burnley's James Trafford will also be hoping to get their first minutes with England's senior side. West Ham's Jarrod Bowen and Everton's Jarrad Branthwaite complete the list of five replacements for the withdrawn players.
England will face Greece at the Athens Olympic Stadium on Thursday, Nov. 14, looking to get revenge after its surprising 1–2 defeat at Wembley Stadium in October. The Three Lions will host Ireland at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 17 for Carsley's last game in charge before Thomas Tuchel takes over as England manager at the start of the new year.