England boss Gareth Southgate says Callum Wilson fired his way into the World Cup squad thanks to his recent form for Newcastle United.

Wilson is one of three Newcastle players in the 26-man squad for the World Cup, joining Nick Pope and Kieran Trippier.

Although missing Newcastle's last two games through illness, Wilson had already done enough to impress England boss Southgate, who was at St James' Park to witness the striker score twice in the win over Aston Villa at the end of last month.

Wilson was preferred over Ivan Toney, Tammy Abraham and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, with Southgate explaining that recent form was a key deciding factor.

"Tammy has had a poor run of scoring form at the wrong time," said the England boss.

"It is not a case where we are three or four weeks away from the first match, we are now 10 days, so form could be more important.

"We are watching their club form but we don't know where they are until we see them face to face.

"You still don't get the full picture until you work with them and see how they train with each other."

Wilson has not yet spoken to Southgate about the call-up, with the Three Lions boss prioritising the conversations with those who weren't part of his squad.

He said: “I haven’t had a chance to speak to Callum.

“My priority, always on these days, is the difficult conversations and sad news. That is really tough. There aren’t many situations harder in football than that. The nature of those conversations, good and bad, reminds you of how much it means to a player to go a World Cup. It is a great day but also some I’ve had to disappoint."

Southgate's decision to select Wilson was backed by former England boss Roy Hodgson, who said: "I know his background well and have always admired hm. He's come through enormous hardships to get to where he's got to today, not least getting through a lot of injuries."

Pope and Trippier were always going to be part of the squad, having established themselves as regulars under Southgate.

As well as Wilson's selection, the other headline inclusion was Leicester City's James Maddison.

Southgate said: "He's always been up against some really good players in that area of the pitch.

"There have been times when we've played 4-3-3, without a No 10 profile and that didn't necessarily fit.

"But, like I said, he's playing exceptionally well. We like that he finds those pockets of space. 

"He plays forward - not enough players play forward in this day and age and his set-play delivery is outstanding. He can also score goals from distance which against low-block defences is another attribute that is different to some of our players.

"He was delighted [when we spoke on the phone]. I had some very different calls that were, emotionally, at the other end of the spectrum. So it was nice to give myself an enjoyable end to that.

"All of those calls - the difficult ones and the really enjoyable ones - were a reminder of what it means to the players." 

ENGLAND SQUAD IN FULL: 

Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Newcastle), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal).

Defenders: Kieran Trippier (Newcastle), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Kyle Walker (Man City), Ben White (Arsenal), Harry Maguire (Man Utd), John Stones (Man City), Eric Dier (Tottenham), Conor Coady (Everton, on loan from Wolves), Luke Shaw (Man Utd).

Midfielders: Declan Rice (West Ham), Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Kalvin Phillips (Man City), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Mason Mount (Chelsea).

Forwards: Harry Kane (Tottenham), Callum Wilson (Newcastle), Marcus Rashford (Man Utd), Raheem Sterling (Chelsea), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Phil Foden (Man City), Jack Grealish (Man City), James Maddison (Leicester City).