Kyle Walker and James Maddison out of England World Cup opener against Iran, confirms Gareth Southgate

ByEurosport

Published 20/11/2022 at 15:56 GMT

It had been expected that England would be without Kyle Walker for their opening game against Iran and manager Gareth Southgate has now confirmed that will be the case. He also revealed that Leicester City midfielder James Maddison will be missing. Maddison has been absent for the past three training sessions in the build-up to the Three Lions' opener.

England manager Gareth Southgate has confirmed that defender Kyle Walker and midfielder James Maddison will both miss the team's opening World Cup match against Iran.

Walker came into the tournament as an injury doubt, despite having made a remarkable recovery from a groin injury suffered during the Manchester derby against Manchester United in October.

Initially it was thought that Walker might miss the World Cup but his swift recuperation allowed him to be included in the 26-man squad.

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James Maddison of England poses during the official FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 portrait session on November 16, 2022 in Doha, Qatar

Image credit: Getty Images

Walker had said in the past few days that he expected to miss the Iran game, but believed he would be ready to go after that.

Maddison limped off for Leicester City during the final match before the break for the World Cup, and has since missed three training sessions in a row - and will also miss the Iran match.

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"Kyle Walker is a little bit short for this game but is progressing really well. We are ahead of where we thought he might be at this point," Southgate told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"James hasn’t been able to train since we arrived so he will not be able to make the game tomorrow.”

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