Here are several reasons why current centre-back for Serie A club AC Milan Fikayo Tomori may have been left out of the England Squad.
Fikayo Tomori, who currently plays as centre-back for Serie A club AC Milan, is just one of several world-class players that was recently not included in the 26-man squad that the England manager Gareth Southgate took with him to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Here are several other top players who also didn’t quite make the cut this year.
Who is Fikayo Tomori?
Fikayo Tomori is just one of a handful of players that could just as easily have made it into the 26-man world cup squad but, unfortunately, wasn’t selected. Exactly who is Fikayo Tomori? Oluwafikayomi Oluwadamilola’ Fikayo’ Tomori (who is more commonly referred to as Fikayo Tomori) is a 24-year-old men’s professional football player who currently plays as the number 23 at club level for the Italian Serie A giants AC Milan.
The centre-back was actually born in Calgary, Canada, in December 1997 and was eligible to play for Canada, Nigeria, and England. He started out at Premier League side Chelsea and had brief loan spells at Brighton & Hove Albion, Hull City, Derby County, and AC Milan. He settled at AC Milan in 2021, and since joining them, he has played 46 games.
At an international level, he played three times for the Canada U20, five times for England U19, 15 times for England U20, and 15 times for England U21. He has also played on three separate occasions for the England men’s senior team, but it just wasn’t to be for the current 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Can England win the world cup?
To find out whether or not England can win the world cup with their current squad, the best thing to do would be to visit some of the major sports betting websites just to see what odds are currently being offered for England to win the world cup outright. This will give you a much clearer picture of England’s chances. If you’re looking for soccer betting in South Africa right now, one of the most trusted sites you can turn to is 10Bet Africa, which has some of the industry’s most competitive world cup betting odds.
For example, right now, you will find at most sites like 10Bet that England are currently around the second odds-on favourite team to win the world cup behind Brazil. If you were to place a wager on England to win the world cup right now, then you would be looking at odds, on average, of around 13/2 (in UK fractional odds). When converted into European decimal odds, this works out to 7/5, and in American/moneyline odds, it works out to +650. In comparison, Brazil (the favourites to win the world cup) are currently priced at 3/1 (which is 4.00, or +400). In other words, England is a fairly safe bet; don’t forget that any bet is never guaranteed. Who would have thought Argentina would lose to Saudi Arabia to produce Argentina’s worst ever result at a World Cup Finals tournament
Which other England players were NOT selected for world cup duty?
Tomori is just one of several questionable players left out of the 26-man world cup squad. Some of the other players that were also not selected to many people’s surprise, were:
- Dean Henderson – Goalkeeper (Nottingham Forest, out on loan from Manchester United)
- Reece James – Right-Back (Chelsea)
- Chris Smalling – Centre-Back (Roma)
- Jarrod Bowen – Right Wing (West Ham)
- Ivan Toney – Striker (Brentford)
- Michael Olise – Centre-Mid (Crystal Palace)
- James Ward-Prowse – Defensive/Attacking Midfield (Southampton)
- Ben Chilwell – Left Back (Chelsea)
- Marcus Edwards – Winger/Attacking Midfielder (Sporting CP)
- Jadon Sancho – Left Wing (Manchester United)
Whether it was a mistake to leave Tomori or any of these other players behind or not remains to be seen.
How are England fairing so far?
England are in Group B, along with Wales, the USA, and Iran. They have played just one game against Iran, which they won 6-2 after goals from Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford, and Jack Grealish. This game was on Monday, November 21st, at the Khalifa International Stadium. On Friday, November 25th, they play the USA at the Al Bayt Stadium, and then on Tuesday, November 29th, they face Wales at the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium in the final group stage match.
They got off to a great start with their solid win over Iran in their opening game, and they looked impressive and confident. There’s a good chance they will make it through to the final 16, and there’s also a good chance they could go on to reach the semi-finals or the finals. Whether England can actually win the world cup, though, is anybody’s guess. France and Brazil are also looking good, but it’s still too early to tell which team might go all the way and lift the coveted World Ctrophy.
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