It’s very easy to overthink the shirt numbers certain players are allocated for the World Cup.
Are those given one to 11 the guaranteed starters?
Will the very last numeral dished out not feature at all?
Do certain individuals ask for their club digits?
Questions that only really the managers know and probably won’t give a definitive answer to.
But Gareth Southgate has seemingly given some clues to these queries following England’s squad number announcement.
England’s World Cup squad numbers
Jordan Pickford taking the number one jersey quite clearly points to him being the first-choice goalkeeper in Qatar.
Harry Maguire retained the number six, suggesting he might have a starting birth despite playing poorly for Manchester United.
The number ten went to Raheem Sterling, another who’s domestic form has been outweighed by Southgate’s trust.
Jude Bellingham and Mason Mount before received their domestic numbers, 22 and 19 respectively.
And right at the end of the 26-man squad is number 26, Conor Gallagher.
Although some might view this as an admission of the midfielder’s back-up role, Chelsea fans will probably take a different approach.
Gallagher takes JT’s digits
Gallagher’s latest England number is infamous around Stamford Bridge because of one person.
John Terry proudly carried 26 on the back of his top from 1998 to 2017, winning 15 major honours along the way.
Terry also took 26 when he moved to Aston Villa for one season before hanging up his boots in 2018.
Whilst he usually wore six rather than 26 for England, the latter will always be associated with the iconic defender whenever Blues’ supporters are concerned.
Now, it’s Gallaghers turn to proudly take Terry’s numerical legacy onto the international stage this winter.
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