UEFA Euro 2020 Qualifiers: 4 England World Cup stars whose international careers could be over

#4 Jesse Lingard

Despite some good performances for England, Jesse Lingard's form has fallen off a cliff since the turn of the year

Few England players emerged from the 2018 World Cup with as much credit as Jesse Lingard. The Manchester United attacker started in all but two of the Three Lions’ games at the tournament, and his streetwise style proved to be dangerous against all of England’s opponents. Lingard even scored the team’s best goal of the tournament with his long-range strike against Panama.

But while his England career has continued to flourish – Lingard scored goals against the USA and Croatia last autumn, and would’ve netted the winner in this summer’s Nations League semi-final against the Netherlands in a world without VAR – at club level, the midfielder appears to have hit a wall.

The statistics on Lingard are pretty damning; he hasn’t scored a goal or made an assist for the Red Devils since December 2018 despite essentially being an ever-present in their starting XI, and when he was selected in September’s England squad by Southgate for his strong performances in previous internationals, more than one eyebrow was raised.

For the upcoming fixtures though, Lingard has been left out, and considering the strong form of players such as Mason Mount and James Maddison – and others outside the squad who play in a similar position such as Jack Grealish and Todd Cantwell – it’s hard to see a way back for him unless his club form improves. At 27, he’s not as young as many people think, too – making matters even harder for him.