England leave out Hart, Wilshere

London, May 16: Trent Alexander-Arnold has been included in England’s 23man squad for the World Cup as Joe Hart and Jack Wilshere were confirmed as the big-name casualties.

It was widely reported on Tuesday that England manager Gareth Southgate would leave out on-loan West Ham goalkeeper Joe Hart and Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere.

Both players will be missing from the England plane to the tournament in Russia next month, but Liverpool right-back AlexanderArnold will be on the flight as Southgate opted for a youthful selection.

He named Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope in place of Hart and called up Manchester City’s Fabian Delph, who can play at leftback or in midfield, to take over from Wilshere.

Chelsea defender Gary Cahill was included despite missing out in recent friendlies, while there was no place for Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana, who has recently returned from a lengthy injury lay-off.

Chelsea’s young midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek has earned selection after an impressive season on loan at Crystal Palace.

“I believe this is a squad which we can be excited about,” Southgate said.

Zlatan-less Sweden big on spirit

After their former striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic recently ended speculation that he might play at the World Cup in Russia, Sweden coach Janne Andersson has named a squad short on househould names but big on team spirit on Tuesday.

There were no shocks as the coach kept faith with the players who qualified for Russia.

In Ibrahimovic’s absence, Sweden beat qualifying France at home, before beating Italy.

“We showed in the qualification and the playoff that we had... The same squad, and we did it really well,” Andersson said.