Brentford striker Ivan Toney was the only fresh face in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for their final two matches before the World Cup kicks off in November.The Three Lions travel to Italy and host Germany in the Nations League later this month, aiming to make amends for a dreadful start to the competition.Southgate’s men have taken just two points from their opening four games in the group, including an embarrassing 4-0 home defeat to Hungary last time out.Other than the inclusion of the in-form Toney, Southgate has remained loyal to the core of the team that reached the Euro 2020 final.Manchester United duo Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw are included in the 28-man squad despite losing their place at club level under Erik ten Hag.##NAJAVA_MECA_6649619##Another two United players remain out of the squad as injury put paid to Marcus Rashford’s hopes of a recall and there is no place for Jadon Sancho.Tottenham’s Eric Dier is rewarded for his consistent form under Antonio Conte with a recall, while Chelsea’s Ben Chilwell returns after a lengthy injury absence.First-choice goalkeeper Jordan Pickford misses out with a thigh injury.ENGLAND SQUADGoalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Nottingham Forest/ENG), Nick Pope (Newcastle United/ENG), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal/ENG)Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool/ENG), Ben Chilwell (Chelsea/ENG), Conor Coady (Everton/ENG), Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur/ENG), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace/ENG), Reece James (Chelsea/ENG), Harry Maguire (Manchester United/ENG), Luke Shaw (Manchester United/ENG), John Stones (Manchester City/ENG), Fikayo Tomori (AC Milan/ITA), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle United/ENG), Kyle Walker (Manchester City/ENG)Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund/GER), Mason Mount (Chelsea/ENG), Kalvin Phillips (Manchester City/ENG), Declan Rice (West Ham United/ENG), James Ward-Prowse (Southampton/ENG)Forwards: Tammy Abraham (AS Roma/ITA), Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United/ENG), Phil Foden (Manchester City/ENG), Jack Grealish (Manchester City/ENG), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur/ENG), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal/ENG), Raheem Sterling (Chelsea/ENG), Ivan Toney (Brentford/ENG)✅ Trent Alexander-Arnold🆕 Ivan Toney 👀 Harry Maguire❌ Jadon Sancho Gareth Southgate has made some big calls in the latest England squad announcement! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/czmw71sDIc— TEAMtalk (@TEAMtalk) September 15, 2022 As for Les Bleus, Olivier Giroud and Ousmane Dembele were both included in the final France squad before the World Cup on Thursday, as coach Didier Deschamps deals with the absence of a host of big names for a UEFA Nations League double header.Karim Benzema is sidelined with a thigh injury suffered playing for Real Madrid, while Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba faces a race against time to be fit for the World Cup after undergoing knee surgery.With Chelsea’s N’Golo Kante recovering from injury, Paris Saint-Germain defender Presnel Kimpembe sidelined, and Bayern Munich duo Kingsley Coman and Lucas Hernandez also ruled out, Deschamps has brought back some familiar faces and handed a first chance to others for France’s games against Austria and Denmark later this month.Giroud, who will be 36 come the World Cup in Qatar, is rewarded for a fine start to the season at AC Milan with a recall, while Dembele comes into the squad for the first time since June last year, when he limped out of the European Championship.There are first call-ups for the Eintracht Frankfurt striker Randal Kolo Muani as well as Monaco centre-back Benoit Badiashile and his club colleague Youssouf Fofana.Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris are among the six players in the squad who featured in the 2018 World Cup final win over Croatia.##NAJAVA_MECA_6649602##France host Austria in Paris on September 22 before playing Denmark in Copenhagen three days later.While the matches serve as preparation for the World Cup, which starts on November 20, France are currently bottom of Nations League A, Group 1 so need points from their final two games to avoid relegation to League B.They won the last edition of the Nations League last year.FRANCE SQUADGoalkeepers: Alphonse Areola (West Ham United/ENG), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur/ENG), Mike Maignan (AC Milan/ITA)Defenders: Benoit Badiashile (Monaco), Jonathan Clauss (Marseille), Theo Hernandez (AC Milan/ITA), Jules Kounde (Barcelona/ESP), Ferland Mendy (Real Madrid/ESP), Benjamin Pavard (Bayern Munich/GER), William Saliba (Arsenal/ENG), Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich/GER), Raphael Varane (Manchester United/ENG)Midfielders: Eduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid/ESP), Youssouf Fofana (Monaco), Matteo Guendouzi (Marseille), Adrien Rabiot (Juventus/ITA), Aurelien Tchouameni (Real Madrid/ESP)Forwards: Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona/ESP), Olivier Giroud (AC Milan/ITA), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid/ESP, on loan from Barcelona/ESP), Randal Kolo Muani (Eintracht Frankfurt/GER), Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain), Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig/GER)Official:France squad for September internationals. pic.twitter.com/kDC5uRIy7I— BRGoals (@BRGoals) September 15, 2022 The Navigators are still searching them best selves. 2016 EURO winners had to go through qualifiers to reach the World Cup but the talent within the Portugal squad was never in question.The core was formed a long time ago, only occasionally does the national team get different outlines. And in the coming days, there will be a newcomer in the Portugal selection. It is Tiago Djalo, the defender of Lille, who earned Fernando Santos’ call-up for the upcoming matches against the Czech Republic (in Prague, September 24) and Spain (in Braga, September 27) in the Nations League.Djalo was a youth national team member eight times, Sporting sold him to Milan from where he went to Lille three years ago for 4 million euros, so that he would even win the title in Ligue 1 with Les Dogues in the 2020/21 season. Although he did not play all the games, in the last championship he completely asserted himself and cemented his place in the defense. At the beginning of this cycle, he played all seven games, although the public in his homeland has some doubts about him, because Lille conceded as many as 16 goals with him in the squad.But Santos trusts in him.”Thiago is not an unknown, he was on some of the national team lists before, now we included him in the final one, because he is a starter in Lille. In addition, Joao Cancelo has been suspended and will miss the match with the Czechs due to a red card, which leaves us with only one right back (Diogo Dalot). Diallo, apart from being a center defender, can also play on the flank, he offers us the possibility to use him in different positions,” said the Portugal coach.##NAJAVA_MECA_6649622##Compared to the June cycle, there is no stopper David Carmo, midfielders Otavio and Renato Sanches, wingers Pedro Goncalves and Gonzalo Guedes, and striker Andre Silva, while Joao Mario and Pedro Neto are back.The Portuguese are second in Group 2 A division, they have seven points and are between Spain (eight) and the Czech Republic (four), while Switzerland is last with three.PORTUGAL SQUADGoalkeepers: Diogo Costa (Porto/POR), Jose Sa (Wolverhampton/ENG), Rui Patricio (AS Roma/ITA)Defenders: Diogo Dalot (Manchester United*ENG), Joao Cancelo (Manchester City/ENG), Danilo Pereira (PSG/FRA), Pepe (Porto/POR), Ruben Dias (Manchester City/ENG), Tiago Djalo (Lille/FRA), Nuno Mendes (PSG/FRA), Rafael Guerreiro (Borussia Dortmund/GER)Midfielders: Joao Palhinha (Fulham/ENG), Ruben Neves (Wolverhampton/ENG), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City/ENG), Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United/ENG), Joao Mario (Benfica/POR), Mateus Nunes (Wolverhampton/ENG), Vitinha (PSG/FRA), William Carvalho (Betis/SPA)Forwards: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United/ENG), Diogo Jota (Liverpool/ENG), Pedro Neto (Wolverhampton/ENG), Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid/SPA), Rafael Leao (AC Milan/ITA), Rafa Silva (Benfica/POR) Ricardo Orta (Braga/POR).Official:Portugal squad for September internationals. pic.twitter.com/mkNYaPSne2— BRGoals (@BRGoals) September 15, 2022 The Germans are not among those who like to experiment. Especially not in the run-up to the World Cup, which is why Hansi Flick called mostly the footballers he has relied on so far to bring the Nations League competition to an end.For the matches with Hungary in Leipzig (September 23) and England at Wembley (September 26), Flick is counting on seven players from the long-time champion Bayern, four from Borussia Dortmund, and one newcomer. We are talking about Armel Bella-Kotchap, the young stopper of Southampton, who did great at the beginning of his career in the Premier League, after arriving from Bochum. Compared to the June selection, Mark Andre ter Stegen, Matthias Gunther and Robin Gossens returned, and this time the injured Lukas Klostermann and Benjamin Henrichs, as well as Jonathan Tah, Anton Stack and Karim Adeyemi, are absent.##NAJAVA_MECA_6649614##In the previous days, it was speculated that Mario Gotze could re-join the national team (he returned to the Bundesliga and plays well for Eintracht), as qell as Borussia Dortmund’s stopper Mats Hummels, although Flick did not invite them now, which does not necessarily mean that he won’t do so for Qatar.”The door is open to everyone and they still have a chance to jump on the World Cup train,” noted Flick.GERMANY SQUADGoalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich/GER), Marc Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona/SPA), Kevin Trapp (Eintracht Frankfurt/GER)Defenders: Thilo Kehrer (West Ham United/ENG), David Raum (Leipzig/GER), Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid/GER), Nico Schlotterback (Borussia Dortmund/GER), Niklas Sule (Borussia Dortmund/GER), Armel Bella-Kotchap (Southampton/ENG), Matthias Gunther (Freiburg/GER), Robin Gossens (Inter Milan/ITA);Midfielders: Julian Brand (Borussia Dortmund/GER), Serge Gnabry (Bayern Munich/GER), Leon Goretzka (Bayern Munich/GER), Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City/ENG), Kai Havertz (Chelsea/ENG), Jonas Hoffmann (Borussia Monchengladbach/GER), Josua Kimmich (Bayern Munich/GER),Forwards: Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich/GER), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich/GER), Lucas Nmecha (Wolfsburg/GER), Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund/GER), Leroy Sane (Bayern Munich/GER) and Timo Werner (Leipzig/GER).🇩🇪 Hansi Flick’s Germany squad for our upcoming Nations League games vs. Hungary and England 📋#GERHUN #ENGGER pic.twitter.com/XM6VaP9Lbq— Germany (@DFB_Team_EN) September 15, 2022 © Agence France-Presse
