England Unveil Surprise Euro 2024 Squad, Leaving Out Grealish and Maguire

Gareth Southgate has pressed his new-look England squad to come together after several high-profile stars were left out of their final 26-man squad for Euro 2024.

Manchester City's Jack Grealish, Manchester United's Harry Maguire and Tottenham's James Maddison will all miss this summer's finals along with Liverpool duo Curtis Jones and Jarell Quansah, and Everton's Jarrad Branthwaite and Burnley's James Trafford after Southgate cut his provisional 33-strong list on Thursday.

Exactly half of the 26-man squad Southgate took to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar just over 18 months ago have been left behind while 12 of the players selected have never been to a major tournament before.

Maguire's absence was largely explained by a calf injury which Southgate said would have \"definitely\" ruled him out of the group stages. Grealish and Maddison were overlooked in favour of including younger attacking options with Newcastle's Antony Gordon and Chelsea's Cole Palmer both included, while United's Kobbie Mainoo is also in the squad along with Crystal Palace duo Adam Wharton and Eberechi Eze, all of whom are currently playing at this highest level for the first time.

With Jordan Henderson and Kalvin Phillips also not selected after previously playing key roles during Southgate's eight years in charge, the Three Lions boss is aware of the team bonding required during preparations, which continue with Friday's final warm-up game against Iceland at Wembley.

"Of course, we [have] a lot of changes from Qatar if you go back as far as that," said Southgate, who planned to hold a team meeting on Thursday night to help draw a line under a difficult week of uncertainty within the group.

"The decision on picking a squad is always a moment in time. Sometimes you perhaps regenerate the group more than you were expecting a couple of months ago but that has already brought a hunger, a competitiveness and the key now is we have to bond as a group."

Luke Shaw was picked despite not playing since Feb. 18 because of a hamstring problem. Southgate added: “At the moment, we think he can have some involvement in the second group game."

Grealish started just 10 Premier League games this season as City won their fourth consecutive title. Maddison has struggled to recapture his early-season form since returning from injury at the end of January, scoring just one Premier League goal against Aston Villa on March 10.

Southgate added: "The fact is we've got some players who have been playing extremely well all season in the league and we just feel other players have had stronger seasons, particularly in the last six months or so."

Maguire, who has 63 caps, is another big absence. “Harry has made some progress but that's been complicated," Southgate added. "We definitely wouldn't have had him in the group stages and there were too many hurdles to get through without really being clear of where we might get to."


ENGLAND SQUAD FOR EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP 2024:

Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson, Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale

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

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

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