England: Gareth Southgate reveals James Maddison secured World Cup place two weeks ago

Gareth Southgate says he decided two weeks ago that James Maddison would be in his England World Cup squad after confirming the Leicester star’s place on Thursday.

Southgate have officially announced their 26-man roster for the upcoming tournament in Qatar, which starts for them against Iran on November 21, and Maddison has made the cut after widespread debate over his chances.

Newcastle striker Callum Wilson was another controversial choice of the Three Lions boss, with fans expressing their dismay at Brentford’s Ivan Toney missing him, while the absence of AC Milan defender Fikayo Tomori has also sparked anger online.

Despite earning just one cap for England so far, many have campaigned for Maddison to move to Qatar amid his wealthy form for Leicester, which has seen him score six goals in 12 Premier League games this season.

In the end, that was enough to win Southgate, who revealed at a press conference on Thursday that the 25-year-old’s varying qualities to the other attackers at his disposal made him a must-have.

“Look, he’s a good player. We’ve always said he’s a good player. He has earned the right,” Southgate said in St George’s Park.

“We think he can offer us something different than the other attacking players we have, so I think there have been talks and debates about James at different stages.

“I think September was probably a fair debate, but he plays as well as any other attacking player in this country, and he’s a little different from the others. We have different kinds of threat, and I think we may need them.’

When asked if he has spoken to Newcastle’s Wilson, Southgate continued: “I haven’t had the chance with Callum, [but] I spoke to James because I think there was a lot of speculation this morning that James would not be with us.

“We decided a few weeks ago that he would, but of course we weren’t going to tell him then.”