England manager Gareth Southgate has left out the duo of Fikayo Tomori and Tammy Abraham out of his 26 man World Cup squad.

Southgate’s decision to leave out Roma Striker, Tammy Abraham as well as AC Milan defender, Fikayo Tomori has caused quite a stir.

Tomori, who helped Milan win their first Serie A title in 11 years must be mystified by the decision to leave him out. He was integral to what Milan did last season, often putting up man of the match displays.

His excellent defensive performances have carried on into the new season as he continues to impress under manager, Stefano Poli

Over the last 12 months, it is hard to make a case for any other English defender performing better than Tomori. Many believe the decision to call up the likes of Connor Coady and Eric Dier instead of the former Chelsea man might prove to be a mistake. Eric Dier in particular has been generally underwhelming in recent weeks.

Despite Tomori’s outstanding performances for Milan, it looks like he hasn’t done enough in the eyes of Southgate to make the squad.

Tammy Abraham has also been left out of the England squad. Perhaps less controversially but still a bit of a surprise considering the season he had last year. However he has started the new campaign rather inconsistently. Tammy has only managed 4 goals in 19 appearances this season. The two former Chelsea players have traced to have connections with being Nigerians but they decided to stick with England where they were born and bred.

England World Cup Squad in Full :

Goalkeepers – Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale, Nick Pope.

Defenders – Eric Dier, Connor Coady, John Stones, Kyle Walker, Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire, Kieran Trippier, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ben White.

Midfielders – Kalvin Phillips, Declan Rice, Connor Gallagher, Jordan Henderson, Mason Mount, Jude Bellingham, James Maddison.

Forwards – Phil Foden, Harry Kane, Callum Wilson, Raheem Sterling, Bukayo Saka, Jack Grealish, Marcus Rashford.

L-R) 2022 Adron Games Ambassadors, Tijani Babaginda, Chioma Ajunwa, Executive Director, Finance Adron Homes and Properties, Olori Aderonke Emmanuel King, Group Managing Director /Chief Executive Officer, Adron Homes and Properties, Aare (Dr.) Adetola Emmanuel King, Daniel Amokachie and Deji Hasstrup at the opening ceremony of the 2022 Adron Games which held Thursday, November 10 at Yaba College of Technology, Lagos.

Leading Real Estate and Property Development company, Adron Homes and Properties Limited on Thursday, November 10 kicked off the 6^thedition of its annual sports games in pomp and pageantry.

Themed ‘The Fit are the best’, the games which are hosted this year at The Yaba College of Technology, Lagos is running for three days, November 10 to 12, 2022.

In his welcome address before declaring the games open, the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the real estate company, Aare (Dr.) Adetola Emmanuel King described the games as an annual fitness and bonding initiative by the company which brings many stakeholders together and promotes fitness among the workers, contractors, homeowners and the public.

He said: “Today marks yet another significant milestone in the Fitness and Bonding initiative of Adron Homes; ever in sync with the efforts that promote well- being and progress of our country. 

“The 2022 Adron Games is even more pertinent in this period of when there is an increasing global focus on mental health wellbeing, our Adron Games aimed as promotion of physical fitness and indeed mental wellbeing not have come at a better time. 

“The importance of Sports is universally upheld. It is the key to building a better future, hence its relevance even within the corporate space cannot be overemphasized. We often take sports and leisure for granted. Yet millions of people around the world do not have access to sports, or are actively denied their right to participate. We all admire the athletes and achievements on display during every global sporting event”. 

 After unveiling the mascot for this edition, the games were declared open with a colorful parade by all the Regions; Gateway, Northern, Oyo, Capital, Living Fountain, Construction, Eko and Head Office with winners in order of arrangement.

The first game of the day was the football match between Ex Super Eagles Internationals and Adron Contractors which ended in a one-all draw.

During the half time of the match, a contortionist show entertained the audience followed by a tug of war between Abuja and Head Office which got the audience reeling with excitement as Abuja defeated Head office 2 -0 to emerge winner. 

Next was a women football match between Oyo and Eko, a keenly contested match that ended 2 – 3 as Eko took their opponents to the cleaners. There was a halftime tug of war show between Ogun and Livingspring with the former winning 2 – 0. 

The last game of the day was a men football match between Oyo and Eko which ended 4 – 3 in favor of Oyo. At half time Construction and Mainland slugged it out in the tug of war with Mainland trashing Construction 2 – 0.

The games continue today with other interesting sporting events including aerobics and the Executive Director’s race as well as on Saturday when the games end.

Additional reports from Segun Adebowale

Portugal has released a 26-man squad that will face Super Eagles in a friendly in Lisbon on November 17.

The squad will also feature at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Talismanic captain, Cristiano Ronaldo headlines the squad with key stars like Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Rafael Leao and Joao Felix also included.

Veteran defender, Pepe, Manchester City duo, Ruben Dias and Joao Cancelo are also part of the team.
It will be the first ever meeting between Portugal and Nigeria at the senior level.

Super Eagles head coach, Jose Peseiro is yet to release his list for the friendly.
Portugal will face Ghana, Uruguay and South Korea in Group H at the World Cup.
Nigeria failed to qualify for the global soccer fiesta after losing to Ghana in the playoff.

Brazil are tipped to claim the World Cup for the sixth time in the tournament that kicks off Nov. 20 in Qatar, according to a Reuters poll that last successfully predicted the champions in 2010.

The global survey of 135 football-following market analysts worldwide agreed with the bookmakers that Brazil would triumph for the first time since 2002.

Almost half of respondents expected Brazil to win while 30% were evenly split between France and Argentina. Germany, England and Belgium scored in high single digits.

“Brazil have a big chance this time with the depth and variation in their attack coupled with experience of Casemiro (midfield) and Thiago Silva at the back,” said Garima Kapoor, economist at Elara Capital in Mumbai.

Brazilian talent was prominent in the poll results, with the likes of Neymar and Vinicius Jr, who have boasted brilliant starts to the club season, coupled with goalkeeping duo Alisson and Ederson shining as well.

“We assign a probability of 17% to Brazil winning the tournament, which translates into odds of 5-1,” wrote Peter Dixon, head of EMEA country risk at Fitch Solutions in London.

Dixon put Germany second at 11% (8-1) and France third at 8% (11-1).

His calculations differ from bookmakers odds, which have England as third favourite compared to Dixon’s 4% chance, largely because bookies’ odds are calculated based on how much they would need to pay out, not probabilities.

Forecasters in previous years also used quant models while others used simpler methods such as guesswork and superstition.

EA Sports – creator of the FIFA gaming franchise and which has correctly predicted winners of the previous three World Cups by simulating all 64 matches on their game – said Argentina would lift the trophy.

Argentina, undefeated since losing to Brazil in July 2019, are closing in on Italy’s record of the longest unbeaten streak for any team in international football.

Almost 50% of responses came from Europe, followed by North America and Asia with around 15% each. South American predictions made up just above 10% and the rest were from Africa, Australia or New Zealand.

Spain’s victory at the 2010 tournament in South Africa was the last Reuters survey to correctly predict the winner. Economists failed to forecast Italy’s fourth title in 2006 or the last two won by Germany and France.

If France were to retain the trophy they would be the first to do so since Brazil in 1962.

England’s continual failure to bring the trophy home for the first time since 1966 has not discouraged 5% of forecasters saying they would do so this year.

“Having failed to build on the robust momentum that propelled the nation to the final of Euro 2020, the perennial flops England can only hope to go past the last 16 this time,” said Isaac Matshego, economist at Nedbank in Johannesburg.

Denmark topped the list of underdogs.

Almost half of respondents were split between expecting Lionel Messi or PSG team mate Neymar to win the Golden Ball – awarded to the best player. The Argentine maestro last won it eight years ago in Brazil.

Another PSG man, Kylian Mbappe, was picked as most likely to score the most goals to earn the Golden Boot award.

2022 FIFA World Cup

Qatar has reportedly spent around 220 billion dollars on hosting the tournament – almost fifteen times more than the second-most expensive one – but 41% of respondents said it would have no long-term economic impact.

Almost the same amount said it would be net positive while 21% said it would be negative.

A Forest of Flags…People take pictures with the international flags on Flag Plaza zone ahead of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 in Doha, Qatar November 10, 2022.

Following are the eight groups for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which will be held in Qatar from Nov. 20-Dec. 18.

There will be a round-robin format in the group stage when each of the 32 teams play three matches. Teams will get three points for a win and one for a draw.

The top two in each group advance to the last 16.

The knockout rounds will feature one-off matches, which can go to extra time and then penalties to decide the winner.

GROUP A

Qatar (hosts)

Ecuador

Senegal

Netherlands

The Dutch are favourites to advance from Group A as they chase a maiden World Cup title. Louis van Gaal’s side will be fired up after failing to qualify for the last edition in Russia four years ago.

The Netherlands will expect a strong challenge from Senegal but the Africa Cup of Nations champions are sweating on the fitness of their talismanic forward Sadio Mane, who sustained an injury playing for Bayern Munich.

GROUP B

England

Iran

United States

Wales

England, the 2018 semi-finalists and last year’s European Championship runners-up, will be expected to come through the group but their recent poor form means they could face some tricky tests, especially against Wales and the United States.

GROUP C

Argentina

Saudi Arabia

Mexico

Poland

Argentina will look to build on their Copa America triumph last year with World Cup success and all eyes will be on 35-year-old Lionel Messi in what is likely to be the Paris St Germain forward’s last chance to become a world champion.

Poland will need Robert Lewandowski to be in his usual scoring form take them into the knockout rounds, with Mexico likely to compete with them for second place in the group.

GROUP D

France

Australia

Denmark

Tunisia

France have been hit hard by injuries heading into the tournament, with the likes of midfielders Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante missing out. Didier Deschamps’ side face a daunting task to emulate Italy and Brazil by winning back-to-back titles.

Denmark will also target a deep run having been boosted by the return of key midfielder Christian Eriksen, who has fully recovered from the heart attack he suffered during Euro 2020.

Australia may need some good fortune if they are to get out of the group after an underwhelming qualifying campaign.

GROUP E

Spain

Costa Rica

Germany

Japan

Four-time winners Germany are looking to make amends after a shock first-round exit in 2018 but are in a difficult group, with 2010 champions Spain likely to provide their biggest test.

Spain have struggled in the last two editions after their golden generation won the country’s first World Cup but their young talented side are capable of taking the next step.

GROUP F

Belgium

Canada

Morocco

Croatia

Belgium will be fancied to advance but a lot could depend on how fast injured striker Romelu Lukaku and playmaker Eden Hazard — who has struggled for regular playing time at Real Madrid this season — hit their stride in Qatar.

In-form Croatia are likely to join them at the expense of Canada and Morocco, with playmaker Luka Modric still as pivotal to the team as he was in their run to the final four years ago.

GROUP G

Brazil

Serbia

Switzerland

Cameroon

Brazil are the bookmakers’ favourites and the five-times champions will look to dominate the group having peaked at the right time in qualifying, with a new generation of players easing the burden on forward Neymar.

While Switzerland may not be genuine title contenders, they have proven to be dangerous opponents in the past and have the quality to make it out of the group.

GROUP H

Portugal

Ghana

Uruguay

South Korea

Portugal, led by Cristiano Ronaldo in the twilight of his brilliant career, are expected to get out of the group along with Uruguay but Ghana and South Korea can cause upsets.

Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter talks to the media as he arrives before a commemoration service for the former coach of the Swiss national soccer team Koebi Kuhn at the Grossmuenster church in Zurich, Switzerland December 13, 2019.

Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter thinks Iran should be barred from the World Cup amid widespread protests in the Islamic Republic sparked by the death of a woman in the custody of morality police, a Swiss paper quoted him on Friday as saying.

“Iran should be excluded from the World Cup,” the Blick tabloid reported, saying Blatter at a talk at its publisher’s headquarters had demanded harsh consequences and that he would have removed Iran from competition had he still been in charge.

The protest in Iran pose one of the boldest challenges to Iran’s clerical rulers since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iran has accused foreign enemies of fomenting unrest raging since the death of Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in September after her arrest for allegedly flouting Iran’s strict dress code imposed on women.

The Blick paper cited Blatter as saying it was incomprehensible that FIFA head Gianni Infantino had not taken a clear position on Iran.

Blatter, 86, had made waves this week by saying it had been a mistake to award Qatar the hosting rights to the World Cup, which begins on Nov. 20.