2 Arsenal players selected for u20 Women’s World Cup | OneFootball

Loan duo Jessie Gale and Cecily Wellesley-Smith have been selected by Lydia Bedford, while several current and former Arsenal players miss out.

Photo by Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Getty Images for DFB

Lydia Bedford has named her squad for the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Poland, which takes place from 5 to 27 September, UEFA boycott-allowing.

Two Arsenal players have been selected, although both are currently out on loan.

Striker Jessie Gale will represent England after joining Newcastle United on loan, while centre-back Cecily Wellesley-Smith, who is spending the calendar year on loan at FC Rosengård, has also been included.

Two former Arsenal youngsters have missed out.

Laila Harbert and Vivienne Lia have not been selected, and it is likely that their respective clubs, San Diego Wave and Eintracht Frankfurt, have chosen not to release them, as permitted under the tournament regulations.

Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images

Two current Arsenal players who were eligible also miss out through injury.

Katie Reid and Michelle Agyemang are both returning from ACL injuries and, had they been fit, would almost certainly have been selected, subject to Arsenal agreeing to release them for the tournament.

Sophie Harwood, who was involved in the previous training camp in Portugal, has also not been included.

Alongside Harbert and Lia, the other notable omission is Lexi Potter of Chelsea, who would have been expected to start for England.

Unless she is carrying an injury, it appears she has been retained for Chelsea’s UEFA Women’s Champions League commitments. Chelsea are in the third qualifying round League Path, the same situation Lia would have faced with Eintracht Frankfurt.

Another player expected to be in contention was Chloe Paxton of Sunderland, but she has also missed out.

Layla Drury of Manchester United, who had been on the fringes of the squad and could have provided an impact from the bench, has not been selected either.

The full squad is:

Goalkeepers: Eve Annets (Manchester City), Katie Cox (Chelsea, on loan to Nottingham Forest), Kaiya Jota (Stanford University).

Defenders: Ria Bose (West Ham United), Sacha Lewis (Manchester City), Rachel Maltby (Aston Villa), Lucy Newell (Manchester United), Chloe Sarwie (Chelsea), Zara Shaw (Liverpool), Cecily Wellesley-Smith (Arsenal, on loan to FC Rosengård).

Midfielders: Lola Brown (Chelsea), May Cruft (Rangers), Chloe B. Hylton (Carolina Ascent), Vera Jones (Chelsea, on loan to Watford), Erica Meg Parkinson (North Carolina Courage).

Forwards: Princess Ademiluyi (Gotham FC, on loan to Ipswich Town), Lily Dent (Brighton & Hove Albion, on loan to Sunderland), Jessie Gale (Arsenal, on loan to Newcastle United), Eva Hendle (Chelsea, on loan to Rangers), Eleanor Klinger (Stanford University), Lauryn Thompson (North Carolina Courage).

It is a very strong squad and should have every chance of reaching at least the semi-finals.

The group stage schedule is:

England v CanadaSaturday 5 September, 17:00 BSTStadion Miejski, Bielsko-Biała

England v TanzaniaTuesday 8 September, 17:00 BSTStadion Miejski, Bielsko-Biała

England v BrazilFriday 11 September, 14:00 BSTStadion Miejski, Bielsko-Biała

It is a shame that some players have not been released by their clubs, but we have already seen similar situations with the French and United States squads.

The other outstanding question concerns UEFA’s boycott of FIFA competitions.

It remains unclear whether all six UEFA nations will participate, with only Poland and France currently confirmed.