Gareth Southgate has eight months to mull over his European Championship selection after England sealed their place at next summer’s finals with two games to spare.
Tuesday’s 3-1 win against Italy underlined their place among the favourites in Germany and the PA news agency has analysed how Southgate likely sees his options for the squad right now.
Goalkeepers
On the plane: Jordan Pickford (Everton) and Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)
In the departure lounge: Sam Johnstone (Crystal Palace)
Hoping for a late ticket: Nick Pope (Newcastle)
Pickford established himself as England’s number one ahead of the 2018 World Cup and is all but certain to go into his fourth major tournament as the man between the sticks.
Ramsdale is his closest contender but David Raya’s arrival at Arsenal is impacting his playing time and could well damage his international ambitions. Johnstone has supplanted Pope as third choice for the time being.
Defenders
On the plane: Ben Chilwell (Chelsea), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle) and Kyle Walker (Manchester City)
In the departure lounge: Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Lewis Dunk (Brighton), Reece James (Chelsea) and Fikayo Tomori (AC Milan)
Hoping for a late ticket: Conor Coady (Leicester), Eric Dier (Tottenham), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa) and Ben White (Arsenal)
Trippier, Stones, Walker and Maguire have been to every previous major tournament under Southgate and will do so again if fit and playing – not something that is a given with the latter.
James undoubtedly has the quality to be on the plane but needs to prove his fitness. The Chelsea skipper missed the World Cup through injury and has struggled for an issue-free run since – not ideal given the competition at right-back.
Injured team-mate Chilwell is in a similar position but there is a dearth of options at left-back beyond him and Shaw. Colwill can fill in there as he did on his England debut against Australia, which will boost the central defender’s hopes.
Guehi has established himself as third-choice centre-back. Dunk and Tomori furthered their case for inclusion in recent camps in the absence of injured Mings, whose Aston Villa team-mate Konsa cannot be far from a call-up.
Coady and White have not been selected since Qatar, while fellow World Cup squad selection Dier’s lack of club action has seen him fall out of consideration.
Midfielders
On the plane: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Jordan Henderson (Al-Ettifaq), Kalvin Phillips (Manchester City) and Declan Rice (Arsenal)
In the departure lounge: Conor Gallagher (Chelsea) and Mason Mount (Manchester United)
Hoping for a late ticket: Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest) and James Ward-Prowse (West Ham)
Bellingham would be in any squad in the world, as would Rice. There are questions over Phillips and Henderson given their club situations, but Southgate has so far seen enough to stick with two players he trusts implicitly.
The Football Association now lists Alexander-Arnold as a midfielder, with his versatility and qualities surely enough to see him involved in a midfield that Gallagher is now a regular part of.
Mount’s difficult end to last season and injury-impacted start to life at Old Trafford has seen him miss out on recent squads, but Southgate is a long-term admirer of the Euro 2020 final starter.
In-form Ward-Prowse has not been called up despite his fine start to life at West Ham.
Forwards
On the plane: Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United) and Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
In the departure lounge: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), James Maddison (Tottenham), Raheem Sterling (Chelsea), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa) and Callum Wilson (Newcastle)
Hoping for a late ticket: Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton), Eddie Nketiah (Arsenal) and Ivan Toney (Brentford)
England are blessed with an abundance of attacking options.
Skipper Kane is a certainty, as is fleet-footed Saka. Foden, Grealish and Rashford are established performers under Southgate, while Maddison is now a regular squad member.
There are decisions to make beyond them. Sterling has won 82 caps for his country but has not featured since December’s World Cup quarter-final loss to France. Bowen is another fighting for a sport after his October recall, while Eze will hope to earning back the spot he got before injury. Under-21 Euros winner Gibbs-White is another knocking on the door.
As for Kane’s back-up, Watkins scored on his return to the set-up and Nketiah made his debut this month. But Wilson will be hoping to head into another tournament in that role. Toney is the most interesting alternative but his betting ban does not end until January.
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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