QATAR QUANDARY

GARETH SOUTHGATE has become a victim of his own success and now faces the biggest headache an England manager has had for World Cup squad selection.

No fewer than 34 players appeared in a Three Lions shirt during the 10-match qualifying campaign – four more than have taken part in any previous England World Cup qualification process.

Marcus Rashford, Mason Greenwood, Joe Gomez, Ben White, Dean Henderson and even Curtis Jones will also have designs on a World Cup place.

FIFA have yet to announce the squad size for 2022 but extra places were given for the Euros temporarily to counter Covid effects.

It could mean all those players fighting for just 23 seats on the plane. With that in mind, Southgate is planning a boot camp over the coming months.

Two dates in March will be used to host top opposition at Wembley, while six Nations League games – four in June, two in September – will further test England.

Southgate said: “We are going to take on high-level opposition, so we’re looking to try to get good-quality opposition for March, and the Nations League will provide more of that.

“It’s going to be interesting to see the younger players and how quickly their progress is.

“It has been a really intense couple of years for the players. They’ve dealt brilliantly with it, they’ve kept that freshness and focus when they come with England and we’ve been able to create the environment where they can put things that are going on outside the camp to one side and flourish with the team. I’m very proud of what they’ve done.”

That makes axing up to a third of them possibly the cruellest thing Southgate has ever had to do.