England's provisional World Cup squad has been named, with 55 players anxiously awaiting their fate. The final 26-man selection will be announced on Friday, leading to joy for some and disappointment for others.
Key points
55 players named in England's provisional World Cup squad
Final 26-man selection to be announced on Friday
Players experience joy or despair based on selection
Pundits share personal stories about squad announcements
It is safe to say none of the 55 England players named in Thomas Tuchel's provisional World Cup squad will let their phones leave their sight for the next few hours.
Whether they are in or out, by the time the England manager publicly announces his final 26-man selection on Friday, everyone will have been contacted - and told their fate.
For some, the shock will be the fact they will be on the plane to the US, Canada and Mexico - for others, it will be hearing how they are staying at home.
From the elation of making the cut to the despair of missing out, BBC pundits Micah Richards, Joe Hart, Theo Walcott and Stephen Warnock share their stories of what it is like to get a call before a major tournament with news that will make or break your summer.
And, if you think being told face-to-face is any better, Martin Keown recalls the aftermath of arguably the most famous England squad omission of all.
Micah Richards - 'I just wanted to cry'
Micah Richards looks dejected after a dramatic late home defeat by Croatia meant England failed to qualify for Euro 2008Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Micah Richards had already missed out on Euro 2008 with England after a dramatic late home defeat by Croatia meant the Three Lions failed to qualify
Two days after Manchester City won the Premier League title in May 2012, England boss Roy Hodgson was set to name his squad for the European Championship finals.
City right-back Micah Richards had spent much of the past 48 hours partying after his side's famous 'Aguero moment' and now he was expecting more reason to celebrate.
"I'd been recalled for England's previous game, under caretaker manager Stuart Pearce, and played against the Netherlands in February," Richards remembered.
"I'd made 23 starts for City that season to help us win the league and one of my rivals for the England right-back slot, Kyle Walker, was definitely out of the tournament injured.
"I'd kind of convinced myself I was going to Poland and Ukraine, and I was at home, literally sitting and waiting for the call from Roy... but, when my phone rang, it was Pearce's name that flashed up.
"I thought, 'this is weird, why is he calling me?' He was my old City boss but also the England Under-21 coach at the time, and I didn't think it would be anything important, just that he would be wishing me luck at the tournament.
Q&A
What is the significance of the England World Cup squad announcement?
The announcement determines which players will represent England in the World Cup, impacting their careers and fans' expectations.
When will the final 26-man England World Cup squad be announced?
The final squad will be announced on Friday.
How do players feel about being selected for the World Cup?
Players experience a mix of joy and despair, with some celebrating their selection while others face disappointment.
Who are the pundits sharing their experiences about squad selection?
Pundits Micah Richards, Joe Hart, Theo Walcott, and Stephen Warnock share their personal stories regarding squad selection.
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"Then he says to me, 'Hodgson's not going to pick you'. I didn't know what to say - I just wanted to cry. I look back now and think Roy should have called me himself.
"In the same conversation, Stuart said that Hodgson had asked me to go on standby, but he wanted me himself in his squad for the London Olympics. I couldn't do both.
"Pearce was very honest with me, and said there could be injuries that meant I still got the England call, but I decided to go where I would be appreciated, and go to the Olympics with him.
"The way it was portrayed in the press, though, I had said no to England. Especially when Gary Cahill got injured in a warm-up match and Liverpool right-back Martin Kelly, who wasn't even on the standby list, got called up for the Euros.
"Suddenly I was supposedly the one with the bad attitude, who didn't want to play for England or felt he was too good to be on standby - which was not true at all.
"I was at home, almost in tears and feeling so low, and reading reports that I had snubbed my country, when I would never do that.
"Roy never picked me again, of course. That was the end of my international career.
"When I first got in the England team aged 18, I thought I would end up with 70 or 80 caps. Instead I finished with 13, and my last appearance came when I was 23."
Stephen Warnock - 'I wasn't expecting to go'
Stephen Warnock (left) and Leighton Baines warm up before England's pre-World Cup friendly against Japan in Austria in May 2010Image source, Rex Features
Image caption,
Who will make the plane? Stephen Warnock (left) and Leighton Baines warm up before England's pre-World Cup friendly against Japan in Austria in May 2010
Ashley Cole was cemented as England's first-choice left-back for the 2010 World Cup, but who would go to South Africa as his understudy?
With Wayne Bridge making himself unavailable, the choice for boss Fabio Capello came down to either Everton's Leighton Baines or Aston Villa's Stephen Warnock, who both made the provisional squad.
When the group returned home from their pre-tournament training camp in Austria, it was still unclear who he would take.
"We were told we'd get a phone call one way or another," Warnock recalled. "We knew the call would come on the day the squad came out, from a certain number and before a certain time, because they would be announcing it straight afterwards. So I was at home, literally just waiting by the phone.
"To be honest, I wasn't expecting to go because in the two warm-up games we'd just played, against Mexico and Japan, I hadn't kicked a ball.
"My England career at that point was the seven minutes I'd played against Trinidad and Tobago two years earlier, in June 2008.
"I'd gone to Austria with an ankle injury that I'd picked up in Villa's last game of the season.
"I went on holiday but had a scan when I was away and then spoke to the physios when I came back and basically told them I am going to do everything I can to get in the World Cup squad.
"I told them to strap me up and I would limp through training for the first week. When I was in Austria I was having physio every hour of the day I could get it, and I worked on my ankle as much as possible.
"I don't know if that was being relayed to the management, but when I didn't play in either game, I thought that was me done, that Capello wasn't going to take me now.
"I remember exactly where I was when I got the call.
"I am divorced now but I was in the house with my now ex-wife and I went upstairs to my bedroom when the phone rang, because I just wanted to be on my own. I just remember walking downstairs saying 'I'm going!' and I was probably in a bit of shock.
"It was Franco Baldini [Capello's assistant] who rang and I have no idea if he called everyone else to tell them - I didn't know how it worked, and I didn't care!
"Baldini just said, 'listen, you've had a great season, we knew what you were capable of anyway and we love your attitude - we think you will be perfect around the camp for training and things like that.
"'You know Ash is going to be difficult to budge, because he doesn't get injured and he doesn't not play, but we think you're the perfect back-up to him, in terms of your professionalism and everything else'.
"I was like, "yeah 100%, that will do me". I knew what my role would be anyway, so that was fine."
While the good news came as a surprise to Warnock, a clue was already out there.
The previous day, England kit manufacturer Umbro had sent muralists to the hometowns of every player in the squad to paint their shirt number in a prominent place as a play on their 'tailored by' slogan.
For Warnock, that was a wall on the side of the O'Este restaurant at a busy crossroads in Ormskirk.
'Tailored by Ormskirk' - a picture showing the mural with Warnock's World Cup squad number on it that appeared the night before he was told he was going to South AfricaImage source, Umbro
Image caption,
'Tailored by Ormskirk' - the mural with Warnock's World Cup squad number that appeared the night before he was told he was going to South Africa
"When I told people I was in, everyone was like 'I saw that mural last night, and I didn't know what it was - it makes sense now'," Warnock added.
"I remember driving down to see it thinking, 'if only I'd gone past here last night, I would have known I was going!'
"I didn't get to play in South Africa, but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I just looked at it as if I had a front-row seat to the biggest tournament in world football."
Joe Hart - 'I was packed and ready to go'
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He'd been having a difficult time of it at club level, but Joe Hart did not think his England future was in doubt as the 2018 World Cup approached.
Sure, the inexperienced Jordan Pickford (two caps) and Jack Butland (seven) had started the previous two friendlies, against the Netherlands and Italy in March, but Hart had still been in the squad for those games, just as he had been since his debut in 2008.
The 31-year-old had also played in all 10 qualifying games for Russia and with 75 caps was England's most experienced player. Even if he was no longer the outright number one, he was surely in the top three?
Hart was looking forward to his fifth major tournament after World Cups in 2010 and 2014 and the 2012 and 2016 European Championships, when boss Gareth Southgate phoned up the day before his squad was announced, to tell him he was taking Nick Pope (zero caps) instead.
"I was packed and ready to go, and I got a phone call saying 'stand down'," Hart told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"I'd played all the way through to the World Cup and finished the season, but didn't finish it well - I was in and out for West Ham, which was probably my first season of doing that.
"I'd been in the squad since 2008, all the way through, and obviously played for a lot of years but then the tournament came and I got a call saying, 'you're not going' and that was it."
"I watched the World Cup but I didn't know how I was going to watch it, because there was an awful lot going on in my head and in my chest," he added. "When I get upset, my chest gets tight - that's my tell.
"But the tournament started and I saw all my guys that I loved to pieces and I just thought 'it's not about me, get over yourself - support the team as best you can'.
"It was harder for everyone else around me because the people I love realised I'd be hurt, I'd be sad. They obviously wanted to get behind the team but they didn't want to be seen doing that in in front of me.
"I just made it clear to everyone 'look, I'm over it, I'm over myself. Let's support them'. I didn't think that would be the end for me with England, but it turned out it was."
Theo Walcott - 'I had a tear... then played the best golf ever'
England manager Sven Goran-Eriksson stands in front of a screen showing his squad for the 2006 World CupImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Walcott was not the only uncapped teenager in Eriksson's 2006 England squad. Tottenham's Aaron Lennon was another unexpected selection
Walcott had not played a single minute in the Premier League and had only taken part in 23 professional matches for previous club Southampton, scoring five goals.
Eriksson had never seen him play live, but picked Walcott on reports from his scouts and after watching him train.
"I decided to take Theo this morning," Eriksson said when he revealed his squad. He admitted the selection was "a gamble" and on this occasion, Walcott was not given any advance warning.
He was taking his driving theory test that day - he passed - so had to turn his phone off.
"I finished at 3pm and rang my dad," Walcott said in his first interview after finding out he had been selected.
"He said I was in the England squad and I didn't believe it. I was like, 'you're having me on' and my dad told me he didn't think it was true either.
"My first thoughts were, 'I can't believe this'. I was so shocked I couldn't say anything. I was so surprised, my eyes were coming out of my head."
Walcott did not play a single minute in Germany but four years later he was seen as a key member of the Three Lions squad and widely expected to make Capello's selection for South Africa.
This time he was playing golf with a friend and his cousin when he got very different news, and it was Capello, not his dad, who delivered it.
"I had the day off so I was on the golf course... and I got the phone call," Walcott told Arsenal's website.
"He just said, 'I'm sorry. I'm not going to bring you to South Africa, but I'll see you in Euro 2012 for the Euros'.
"I didn't know what to say at all. There are always disappointments in football, but this was my biggest one yet. I wanted the lads to do well because I am an England fan as well, so I said 'good luck' and that was it.
"Actually, I did have a tear to be fair, with my cousin and my mate. Then I played the best golf ever."
Three weeks after being selected in England's 2006 World Cup squad, Walcott is pictured after he became the youngest England senior player when he came on as a substitute in a 3-1 friendly win over Hungary, aged 17 years and 75 days. Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Three weeks after being selected in England's 2006 World Cup squad, Walcott became the youngest England senior player when he came on as a substitute in a 3-1 friendly win over Hungary, aged 17 years and 75 days. He still holds that record, and went on to win a total of 47 caps over the next decade
Martin Keown - 'We were sat around the pool waiting'
You might have read some of these stories and wondered if it would be better for the manager to break any bad news in person instead.
That is what Glenn Hoddle must have thought when he gave his players pre-arranged appointments in his hotel room at their La Manga base in Spain as he trimmed his England squad from 28 to 22 before the 1998 World Cup.
But an admirable idea famously backfired when Paul Gascoigne finished a round of golf then discovered he was one of six players at the training camp who would be left out.
Phil Neville, who had also just been told he was not going to France, was in tears and being consoled by brother Gary - who did make the squad - in the room next door when they heard Gazza react to his rejection by smashing the furniture up in Hoddle's room.
In his own account of what happened, Gascoigne said: "I went mad, berserk. I lost my rag big time. I was shouting and swearing. I could not believe the injustice of it all. I gashed my knee as I kicked the door, I was crying and out of control.
"I didn't want to talk to anyone and I didn't want to listen to what Glenn had to say. There is nothing he could say.
"I wanted to be part of England's World Cup glory but he has destroyed my biggest dream."
When Martin Keown walked into Hoddle's room a few minutes later, to find out he had made the squad, he had no idea what had just happened.
"We were all sat around the pool, waiting for our time to go to see the manager," Keown said. "If a player came back and collected their stuff, they were going to France. If they didn't, they were going home.
"I went into what was left of Hoddle's room after Gazza. When I was told I was going to my first World Cup, I was looking round wondering what had caused the wreckage.
"We didn't know exactly what happened at the time, because Hoddle didn't tell us."
