England provisional squad: Southgate names 33 players, 7 to be axed next week

Three Lions head coach Gareth Southgate has announced his 33-man England provisional squad for the upcoming European Championship. The much-awaited summer tournament is set to kick off next month with the Euro 2020 postponed by a year amid the ongoing pandemic. However, the pandemic could be a blessing in disguise for the Three Lions head coach as FIFA has increased the squad strength from 23 to 26 players, allowing teams an opportunity to have three additional inclusions given the current circumstances. 

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Gareth Southgate had a tough task at hand with the Englishman having a plethora of talent available at his disposal. The English head coach has named a provisional squad on Tuesday with the final team likely to be released after the Champions League final on May 29.

The Three Lions head coach decided to omit a few stars from his 33-man provisional squad with the likes of Nick Pope and Danny Ings not included in the team. Leeds attacker Patrick Bamford who had a wonderful season under Marcelo Bielsa also misses out from the provisional squad alongside the likes of Manchester United's Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Eric Dier. Leicester City midfielder James Maddison is a major miss from featuring in the European Championship with the likes of Ollie Watkins, Mason Greenwood, Ben Godfrey, Ben White and Aaron Ramsdale making the cut. The 50-year-old head coach is all set to axe seven players from the 33-man England provisional squad with the remaining 26 set to feature in the European Championship.

England Euro 2020 schedule

Gareth Southgate's men are all set to head into Euro 2020 as one of the favourites to win the tournament. Players called up by the Three Lions are all set to get together at St George Park and train together before their two warm-up games against Austria and Romania on June 2 and June 6 respectively.

Following the two warm-up matches, the Three Lions are set to kick off their Euro 2020 campaign by hosting Croatia in their tournament opener on June 13. Later on, England are set to host Scotland in the second league game which will also be played at the Wembley Stadium. This will be followed by an away trip to the Czech Republic on June 22.

The Three Lions' fate will then depend upon their progress in Euro 2020 with their group ranking determining the venue and dates of their knockout clashes. Gareth Southgate will be aiming to select the right mix of players that could help him reach the final which will be played at Wimbledon on July 11.