England's World Cup Squad: Who's Hot, Who's Not?

Fresh from securing qualification a month early England endured mixed results this week as they rounded off their qualifying campaign.

Defeated by Ukraine on Saturday, and under-strength England hit back to beat Belarus on Wednesday at Wembley as plenty of fringe players were given the opportunity to impress.

Now only a handful of friendlies remain before Capello names his 23-man World Cup squad.

Find out below who’s looking good for a place on the plane, and who has it all to do if they’re to be visiting South Africa for footballing reasons next summer.

Who’s HOT

Peter Crouch

His brace against Belarus means he finished the qualifying campaign with four goals from four appearances as he maintains his impressive international strike rate. Has missed a handful of England squads under Capello but you get the impression that the Italian will be reluctant to leave such a prolific marksman at home come the summer.

Lack of playing time at club level could harm his chances, but Emile Heskey also finds himself in the same position.

James Milner

Still yet to start a match at full international but the Aston Villa man has appeared as a substitute in each of England’s last five games and was unlucky not to score last night when he hit the post late on.

Plays on the right-wing for this club but has appeared primarily on the left-hand side so far for England, including a 15 minute stint at left-back against Belarus. Appears to also be covering the right-back position as well as Wes Brown was not named on the bench for either game this week. His versatility could prove the key to his inclusion in the final World Cup squad.

David Beckham

Bizarrely awarded the sponsor’s Man of the Match for his half hour cameo against Belarus which was laughed off by Capello. However, at the same time the Italian manager praised his enduring impact as a substitute, stating that he always performs whenever he’s introduced to the game whilst others struggle to impose themselves.

Capello seems to rate him in this role, demonstrated by substitute appearances in all but one of the ten qualifying games. His appetite for the killer ball and long pass has not diminished as shown last night. Even if his radar was perhaps off the mark more often than not his vision on the pitch still mark him out as a viable option for a fourth World Cup appearance.

Who’s NOT

Rio Ferdinand

A poor error of judgement cost England a man, and eventually the game against Ukraine on Saturday. Not his first mistake for England this season either, after gifting Holland the first goal in Amsterdam in August. Untested against Belarus on Wednesday night after Capello kept faith with his man, Ferdinand will need a much better performance in the real test against Brazil next month.

Ashley Young

PFA Young Player of the Year but has struggled to maintain his exceptional form since the turn of the year. Young arguably missed his chance when he failed to shine when handed a starting role on the left against Holland in August in Gerrard’s absence.

He was not even selected by Capello for the 24-man squad this time around and his fight to get back into the squad will only get more difficult with Joe Cole returning to fitness, and Stewart Downing due back before the end of the year.

Wes Brown

Named in the last two squads after missing most of last season through injury. However, the Manchester United defender has now not featured for England for over a year. Appears to be back-up for Johnson at right-back but could be usurped by the versatile James Milner who Capello believes can also cover that position. Must force himself back into contention at Old Trafford if he is to provide any sort of competition for Johnson.

Michael Carrick

Perhaps unlucky that his only appearance in World Cup Qualifying had to be played largely with 10 men but even still the midfielder failed to really impose himself on the game. A squad regular under Capello but only six appearances (of which only half were starts) is a poor return from the Italian’s 20 matches in charge.

However, other English central midfielders aren’t exactly knocking down Capello’s door for a call-up so the only real threat to his place at the World Cup appears to be a successful return for club teammate Owen Hargreaves, who has just started training after 13 months out with a knee injury.