England World Cup squad: 10 Manchester based players included - but shock as Man Utd defender left out

Six Manchester City players and four Manchester United stars have been included in Sarina Wiegman’s 23-player England Lionesses squad for the World Cup this summer.
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There was one huge surprise in the announcement though with Manchester United defender Maya Le Tissier left out of Wiegman’s World Cup squad.

The former Brighton defender has enjoyed a hugely successful season with Marc Skinner’s side and played a vital role at the heart of a United defence that has conceded just 12 league goals. Many expected the 20-year-old to be a certainly in the Lionesses squad but Arsenal defender Lotte Wubben-Boy appears to have been preferred to her.

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“She was really close. That was a hard call with all the defenders we had to think about. We see her a little more as a full back, she played all season as centre back for her club” said Wiegman on the decision to leave Le Tissier out of the squad.

However, United will be represented by Mary Earps, Ella Toone, Alessia Russo and Katie Zelem with the latter sure to be delighted at her inclusion after not making the cut at last year’s European Championship. Manchester City are the best represented in the squad with Ellie Roebuck, Alex Greenwood, Esme Morgan, Laura Coombs, Lauren Hemp and Chloe Kelly all given the nod ahead of the tournament this summer.

With just under two months to go until the tournament, there is still hope Le Tissier could be heading down under with England after she was confirmed to be one of three players on standby for the tournament. Fellow Manchester United team Emily Ramsey and Manchester City winger Jess Park are also included on the standby list.

There were calls for the inclusion of Cityzens defender and former captain Steph Houghton to be included in the squad following an ACL injury to Leah Williamson though it was no real surprise she was omitted having not featured for Wiegman for over a year.

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The World Cup will be held in Australia and New Zealand this July with the Lionesses first match against Haiti before they face Denmark and China on the 28 July and 1 August respectively.

England Lionesses World Cup squad in full

Goalkeepers: Mary Earps, Ellie Roebuck, Hannah Hampton

Defenders: Millie Bright, Lucy Bronze, Jess Carter, Niamh Charles, Alex Greenwood, Esme Morgan, Lotte Wubben-Moy

Midfielders: Laura Coombs, Jordan Nobbs, Georgia Stanway, Ella Toone, Keira Walsh, Katie Zelem

Forwards: Bethany England, Rachely Daly, Lauren Hemp, Lauren James, Chloe Kelly, Alessia Russo, Katie Robinson

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