5 times the England manager shocked the fans with his World Cup squad selection

#5: Hoddle drops Gazza – World Cup 1998

England fans were left in shock when Glenn Hoddle decided to leave Paul Gascoigne out of his World Cup 1998 squad

Even 20 years on, England fans are still feeling the shockwaves caused by this decision. Apparently, it’s one of the reasons why Gareth Southgate is choosing to announce his squad selection for this year’s tournament at such an early stage.

Going into the 1998 World Cup it seemed unthinkable that boss Glenn Hoddle could leave out Paul Gascoigne. After all, ‘Gazza’ was recognized as possibly the most talented midfielder England could call upon, even nearing the end of his career, and he’d performed remarkably well in the qualifying campaign leading into the tournament, particularly in the key 0-0 draw with Italy.

But the latter stages of the 1997/98 season had seen him struggling for fitness at Division 1 side Middlesbrough (despite helping them to promotion to the Premier League) and a week prior to the squad announcement, Gascoigne was pictured scoffing a kebab late at night, ignoring warnings from Hoddle about his physical condition.

And so with young talent like David Beckham and Paul Scholes breaking through into the side, Hoddle decided to do the unthinkable and dropped the man who was once England’s talisman from the squad.

Football folklore has claimed that Gascoigne wrecked Hoddle’s hotel room when he was told of the decision, but how true is this, remains somewhat of a question mark.

Either way, Gazza never played for England again and saw his life and career spiral out of control in the years that followed.

Whether Hoddle made the right call remains up in the air, too. England looked great at times during the tournament and were unlucky to lose to Argentina on penalties in the second round, but many fans still believed that if Gascoigne were there, he could’ve provided the spark of magic that England needed when the game was tight.

Regardless, it remains the biggest World Cup selection shocker in England’s history.