England star Ben White leaves World Cup camp and will return home for 'personal reasons'

Ben White has left England's squad in Qatar and is not expected to return.

Posted Thursday, December 01, 2022 by Express.co.uk

Ben White has left England's training base at the World Cup and will return home for "personal reasons", the FA have announced. The Arsenal centre-back is not expected to return to Qatar to play any more part in England's World Cup campaign.

Ben White has left England's camp

A statement from the FA read: "Ben White has left England’s training base in Al Wakrah and returned home for personal reasons. The Arsenal defender is not expected to return to the squad for the remainder of the tournament."

White was an unusued substitute in the opening two group games for England, but was not involved for the final match against Wales on Tuesday night. He had been missing from England training on Monday due to illness, but there is no confirmation on the full reasons for White's return home.

The 25-year-old has only made four appearances for his country, all coming in friendlies. But his form for Arsenal this season saw White earn a call-up to England's World Cup squad.

There had been some outrage among many Arsenal fans earlier in the year when White was left out of the England squad for their final set of matches before the World Cup.

He's been crucial to Mikel Arteta's success at Arsenal this campaign, making the right-back spot his own. But Gareth Southgate has been spoilt for choice on the right side of defence with Trent Alexander-Arnold not even able to get in the starting line-up.

It was thought that White would likely come in at centre-back for England if he was called upon.

Southgate now has just Eric Dier and Conor Coady as cover in central defence for Harry Maguire and John Stones. But Kyle Walker can also play in a back three while Declan Rice has also played at the back on occasion.

The England boss now has a few days to prepare the squad for the World Cup last-16 clash against Senegal on Sunday. England beat Wales 3-0 on Tuesday to ensure they finished top of their group.

Senegal meanwhile booked their place in the knockout phase with a nail-biting 2-1 win over Ecuador in their final group game.