Each and every Aston Villa man who are included in England World Cup squad deserve recognition despite their different ending.
2026 FIFA World Cup is already in the round of 16. England is set to take on one of the co-host, Mexico in Azteca stadium. It would be their next tough game after the opener against Croatia and the second frustrating outing versus Ghana.
In the current England squad, three Aston Villa men, Ollie Watkins, Morgan Rogers and Ezri Konsa have made the cut and have featured in the tournament. In fact, they all played together in the final fixture of group stage versus Panama, which is the first time in history.
However, each of them have different fate in this world cup. Konsa always become a starter in all four games, Rogers only got a nod once in the starting XI besides coming off the bench twice, whereas Watkins was only Harry Kane’s understudy, who hit the pitch to replace the skipper once. It would be interesting to see if they would get minutes again in the next game in Mexico City.
Throughout the tournament history, there have only been 11 Villa men who managed to make the cut in the world cup final squad for England. Those current three are included. Here are the other eight names included in the squad.
The Villa legend was the first one to represent England at the world cup. He was included in the final squad in Spain 1982. Unfortunately, he did not play a single game in the tournament, making him one of the few Aston Villa man who became the unused substituted.
He had to deal with a fierce competition upfront to get a nod in the starting XI with Paul Mariner, Kevin Keegan and Trevor Francis. Withe was not exactly the first choice in the Three Lions. He only featured in six games prior to the world cup and only one of them was a match in the qualifier.
The striker with 11 international caps only scored one goal against Hungary in EURO 1984 qualifiers and his last game in England shirt was in November 1984.
He was only playing for Aston Villa in one season, 1985/86 and made the cut in Bobby Robson’s squad in Mexico 1986. Prior to the tournament, he was only capped three times. Unlike Withe, Hodge featured in all five games and contributed two assists when The Three Lions crushed Poland and Paraguay 3-0 in each game. He set up one goal each.
Hodge eventually made 24 appearances on international stage and still named in the final squad in Italy 1990. However, he did not feature a single game in his second world cup. The former midfielder only made four assists without any goals for England. His last international game was in May 1991 against Turkey in EURO 1992 qualifiers.
He was Villa star in the late 1980s and early 1990s under Graham Taylor. Platt was initially not the first choice for the Three Lions. He was only capped five times before getting a call-up for Italy 1990.
Platt featured in six games. He only missed the game at the opener, came off the bench versus Holland, Egypt and Belgium, when he netted his first international goal. The former attacking midfielder was a starter in England’s last three games against Cameroon, West Germany in the semifinal and the host Italy in the third-place playoff.
The former Sampdoria, Juventus and Arsenal man also made the cut in two other major international tournaments, EURO 1992 and 1996. His last game for England was the semifinal in EURO 1996 when they lost to the eventual champions, Germany on penalties. Platt was capped 62 times, scoring 27 goals and provided two assists.
The former England boss was included in the squad during France 1998 world cup. The ex-defender played in two games, the opener and the clash in the round of 16 versus Argentina.
Prior to the tournament, Southgate was already the first choice in England and featured regularly, including in EURO 1996. He also made the cut in Japan-Korea 2002 edition but did not play a single game.
The former Middlesbrough man made 57 international appearances, and bagging twice. His last game for England was in March 2004.
He was the former forward with 26 international caps, scoring six goals and provided one assist. Vassell made the cut in England squad for 2002 world cup edition.
The ex-frontman who could be deployed as winger too featured three times, against Sweden, Nigeria and Brazil but only became a starter at the opener. He was also named in EURO 2004 squad. Yet, it was also his last tournament. Vassell’s last game in Three Lions’ shirt was in the competition’s quarterfinal against the host Portugal, where he missed the shootout and cost England’s campaign.
They were the last three Villa men in England’s squad for FIFA World Cup before Watkins, Rogers and Konsa. However, not all of them have a chance to play all the games. Milner and Heskey featured three and four games respectively while Warnock was only an unused substitute. Interestingly, both set up once too in the competition.
Milner and Heskey played quite regularly in different era with England. Both were capped 61 and 62 times respectively, but Warnock only played twice for the Three Lions and his last international match was in November 2010.
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