England manager Gareth Southgate faced backlash as he chose to drop Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere from the squad that will be travelling to Russia for the FIFA World Cup. Wilshere, who displayed terrific form for the club and became a regular for Arsenal this season, was fit to be selected in the 23-man squad, but was dropped. The selection of Arsenal forward, Danny Welbeck, who did not have his best season so far, further led fans to question the selection.
On Friday, the attention turned towards France and Portugal, as the two countries also dropped some influential and big names from the squad. While France decided to not include Manchester United’s winger Anthony Martial and Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette, Portugal selected only 13 members from their Euro 2016 winning squad. Nani, Renato Sanchez and the goalscorer from the final Eder, are all significant absentees from Portugal’s 23-man squad, which was announced late Thursday.
For France, the selection of striker Olivier Giroud over Lacazette became the most critical point of contention. Several fans joked that the former’s decision to leave Arsenal led to coach Didier Deschamps making his selection.
For Portugal, the biggest name that was left out was former Manchester United man Nani, who was a goalscorer in Euro Cup for Portugal. The Lazio midfielder, who did not enjoy his best season this year, could not make it to the team, and fans dub that his absence will hurt Portugal on the biggest stage.