November 08, (THEWILL) – Marcus Rashford has pulled out of Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers against Albania and San Marino in 2022.
Rashford, who is 24 years old, will not be joining the rest of the England group. Instead, he will stay in Manchester to focus on getting back to full health after a spell of illness.
Rashford has not played for England since the Euro 2020 campaign this summer. Emile Smith Rowe of Arsenal has taken his place in the squad in his first ever senior call up. James Ward-Prowse has also withdrawn from the race.
Rashford became ill on the way home after United’s 2-2 draw with Atalanta in Bergamo last week. He returned to action when he came off the bench in Saturday’s 2-0 loss to Manchester City after manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer eventually introduced him as a second-half substitute.
But, with a series of crucial games ahead of the United side and as Solskjaer fights for his job at the club, Rashford has opted to withdraw from Southgate’s 25-man team.
Rashford’s withdrawal is good news for Smith Rowe’s continued growth as it gives him the opportunity to add to what has been an impressive output for the youngster at the club level with Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal.
After scoring yet again in the Gunners’ 10th unbeaten match, Arsenal fans were querying the wisdom behind leaving the sensational player, who had added goal-scoring to his cast of talents, out of the Three Lions’ squad.
Only two games remain in the qualifiers against Albania and San Marino and England has a three-point lead at the top of Group I.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
