London (AFP)
Gareth Southgate has called up Roma striker Tammy Abraham and Chelsea back Ben Chilwell to the England squad for their next two matches in the European qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup.
England will face Andorra on Saturday in Group H, before hosting Hungary on Tuesday in the seventh and eighth rounds.
Abraham returns to the “Three Lions” squad for the first time since November 2020, after he was initially excluded from the 23-man squad announced by Southgate on Thursday.
The 24-year-old is making a distinguished performance with his new team, Roma, who joined him in August from Chelsea for 34 million pounds. Abraham scored 4 goals in 10 matches he has now played with the Italian capital club in all competitions led by Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho.
In turn, Chilwell took advantage of the injury of his Chelsea colleague Reese James during the loss in the pre-last stage of the Premier League against Manchester City (0-1), to join the Southgate squad. England leads its group with 16 points, four points ahead of second Albania and five ahead of third Poland.
The ten group champions will qualify for the World Cup, while the second-placed teams will play playoffs in an add-on in which two European Nations League teams will also participate, in order to determine the identity of the other three qualified teams from the old continent.
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