Provisional England squad meaning: How many players Gareth Southgate must cut from EURO 2024 selections

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Gareth Southgate has now announced his provisional England squad ahead of UEFA EURO 2024 this summer.

33 of England’s finest footballers have been drafted into the preliminary selection, although many fans have been left confused by what the meaning of the term ‘provisional squad’ actually entails – judging by Google Trends, at least.

So, what is the significance of Gareth Southgate‘s provisional England squad for UEFA EURO 2024? Let’s take a look…

Provisional squad meaning

Effectively, this is not the actual England squad for UEFA EURO 2024 this summer.

Southgate must whittle his selections down to a 26-man squad by midnight on Friday 7th June.

Therefore, seven players still need to be cut from this 33-man provisional squad, so we would advise against getting the champagne out just yet.

Ultimately, one thing that can concretely be taken from the provisional squad announcement is that the seven who are eventually axed from the side will effectively find themselves on a B list of backup options, in case some of the chosen 26 suffer an injury.

You can see the entire 33-man provisional squad below.

Goalkeepers

• Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace)
• Jordan Pickford (Everton)
• Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)
• James Trafford (Burnley)

Defenders

• Jarrad Branthwaite (Everton)
• Lewis Dunk (Brighton)
• Joe Gomez (Liverpool)
• Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace)
• Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa)
• Harry Maguire (Manchester United)
• Jarell Quansah (Liverpool)
• Luke Shaw (Manchester United)
• John Stones (Manchester City)
• Kieran Trippier (Newcastle)
• Kyle Walker (Manchester City)

Midfielders

• Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
• Conor Gallagher (Chelsea)
• Curtis Jones (Liverpool)
• Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United)
• Declan Rice (Arsenal)
• Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace)

Forwards

• Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid)
• Jarrod Bowen (West Ham)
• Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace)
• Phil Foden (Manchester City)
• Jack Grealish (Manchester City)
• Anthony Gordon (Newcastle)
• Harry Kane (Bayern Munich)
• James Maddison (Tottenham)
• Cole Palmer (Chelsea)
• Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
• Ivan Toney (Brentford)
• Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)

Who Gareth Southgate could remove from England’s UEFA EURO 2024 squad

Southgate has already given some indications as to who could drop out of this 33-man provisional squad.

For example, the 53-year-old confirmed that Luke Shaw has effectively been given extra time to recover from his current injury, and is far from a certainty to make the final cut.

The BBC quote Southgate as saying: “(Shaw is] up against it. He’s missed a lot of football. The fact that he has been our first choice in that position, we’ve probably given him a lot longer than we would have done.

“I’ve talked with him and the medical team, we’ve been liaising with Manchester United, I’m not sure what’s realistic at this time. I have to say, he’s a long shot.”

Be sure to keep an eye out for Southgate’s final 26-man squad, as seven players will soon receive an unwanted phone call.

England’s UEFA EURO 2024 fixtures

EURO 2024 Group Stage

Serbia (Sunday 16th June, 20:00 in Gelsenkirchen)

Denmark (Thursday 20th June, 17:00 in Frankfurt)

Slovenia (Tuesday 25th June, 20:00 in Cologne)

Take a look at England’s potential route to the UEFA EURO 2024 final here…