England World Cup squad: Players’ brilliant reactions as Kyle Walker reveals he missed Gareth Southgate’s call as Ashley Young says that ‘dreams do come true’

ENGLAND players have been reacting to their World Cup call-ups with Kyle Walker revealing he missed Gareth Southgate's call just minutes before the squad was announced.

Earlier this afternoon the lucky 23 names heading to Russia for the Three Lions this summer were revealed.

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And Walker, who has had a stellar season with Premier League champs Manchester City, uploaded a screenshot of a missed call from Southgate telling him the good news.

He captioned the photo on Twitter: "The one call you don’t want to miss!!"

Also named in Southgate's Russia-bound squad is Manchester United's versatile player Ashley Young, his first World Cup at the age of 34, and surely his last opportunity.

He described how "dreams can come true" when he uploaded a photo of him as a young boy wearing an England shirt.

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He added: "Maybe this picture said I was gonna live my dream and go to a World Cup."

And his club-mate Marcus Rashford posted an emotional message on Twitter.

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Combining a photo of him scoring for England cut with a photo of his mum, the 19-year-old wrote: "After years of you standing on the touch line in the cold and rain, Mum we're off to the World Cup!"

Harry Maguire posted a picture of himself from two years ago when he travelled to Euro 2016 with his mates to follow England. "How things have changed," noted the Leicester defender.

Trent Alexander-Arnold is Southgate's shock selection according to many, and the Liverpool man described it as a "dream come true".

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Stoke keeper Jack Butland, who was relegated to the Championship with his club side, was understandably  delighted with his call-up.

Writing on Instagram, he said: "Every call up is an honour, but a world cup call up is something extra special!

"I’ve always dreamt of this moment and can’t wait for the next couple of months.

"Let’s go @england."

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Danny Welbeck, who for some might be a surprise inclusion, chose to mention the fans in his tweet of delight.

He wrote: "Privilege and an honour to be selected for @england to go to the #WC2018 in Russia!!

"Cannot wait to get out there and do the fans proud! Let’s do this!!"

And Jamie Vardy was lost for words on getting his plane ticket booked.

He wrote on Twitter: "What an honour! No words to describe the feeling right now.

"Can’t wait to get going! See you in Russia."

Tottenham full-back Kieran Trippier said he couldn't wait to "meet up with the lads" and added that the players will "give it their all".

Title-winner Raheem Sterling described how it was "dreams to reality" before thanking God for the opportunity.

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Southgate has snubbed Adam Lallana to go for broke by naming a string of youngsters in his England squad to take to the World Cup.

Lallana has been forced to settle for a place as stand-by after being overlooked by Southgate.

The Three Lions gaffer has ignored the claims of more experienced players, with Liverpool star Lallana the biggest name to miss out, and pinned his hopes on a novice group he hopes to lead the country to glory in Russia.

Liverpool teenager Trent Alexander-Arnold and Burnley keeper Nick Pope are both included despite never having made a senior international appearance.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek has made the cut, with the Crystal Palace midfielder and Everton's Jordan Pickford only boasting two caps apiece.

But there is a place in the travelling party for Gary Cahill, with the Chelsea defender's experience and return to form in the last month of the season serving him well.

Southgate's decision to ace Joe Hart from his plans means he will go to the tournament with three keepers who have just nine caps between them.

Rookie Pope and the highly-rated Pickford are joined by Stoke's Jack Butland - the most experienced of the trio with just seven appearances to his name.

The decision to include Alexander-Arnold is perhaps the biggest shock, given the teenager has not figured in any senior squads until now.

But his form in the tail end of the season, in which he has impressed helping Liverpool reach the Champions League final, has tempted Southgate to give him his chance.

Ironically, it was a season ending injury to his Anfield team-mate Joe Gomez that opened up a path into the group who will travel to Russia.

With Southgate keen on adopting a three-man defence with wing-backs in Russia, Trent-Alexander's athleticism has seen him get the nod.

Lallana has missed the majority of the season for Liverpool through injury, and has been forced to settle for a place as stand-by, along with keeper Tom Heaton, Lewis Cook, Jake Livermore and James Tarkowski.

England's Group G fixtures at Russia 2018

June 18: Tunisia, 7pm (Volgograd)

June 24: Panama, 1pm (Nizhy Novgorod)

June 28: Belgium, 7pm (Kaliningrad)

Southgate said: “I believe this is a squad which we can be excited about.

“It is a young group, but with some really important senior players so I feel the balance of the squad is good, both in terms of its experience, its character and also the positional balance.

“We have a lot of energy and athleticism in the team, but players that are equally comfortable in possession of the ball and I think people can see the style of play we’ve been looking to develop.

“The selection process has been over months really, it’s not just been the last few weeks. We feel the team are improving and we want to continue that momentum.

“The first call up for Trent Alexander-Arnold is well deserved. When we pick young players, it’s not just because they are young, it’s because their performances deserve it.

“We’ve also had a couple of injuries with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Joe Gomez, which is a huge blow for them personally and disappointing for us.”

The other big calls Southgate had to make were telling Hart and Southampton defender Ryan Bertrand they were not in his plans.

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He added: “Ryan and Joe have played a lot over the last two years so they’re not decisions we took lightly. I could’ve had easier conversations by keeping them involved.

“With Joe, we’ve got three other goalkeepers who have had very good seasons and the decision I was faced with was do I keep Joe in and have experience around the group?

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"Or give the three guys who have basically had a better season a chance? We felt the players all needed to be in on merit after their performances this season.

“Ryan is also very unfortunate in that it’s probably one of the strongest positions we have. Ryan has had a decent season but I just felt the others were ahead of him.

“Both calls were really tough. They’re both good guys and have contributed a lot throughout qualification, so it wasn’t an enjoyable part of the job and I feel it’s important to acknowledge their contribution in getting us to Russia.”