Southgate selects squad for England's 2018 World Cup qualifiers in October

As England closes in on the 2018 World Cup, Gareth Southgate knows who he wants under his umbrella.

On Thursday, Southgate selected a 26-player squad for England's 2018 World Cup qualifiers in October. Fabian Delph and Fraser Forster were both recalled by the English manager, the former of whom last played for the Three Lions in November 2015, and the latter of whom is replacing Tom Heaton. Meanwhile, Harry Maguire retained his place.

England will host Slovenia at Wembley Stadium on Oct. 5, and play away to Lithuania on Oct. 8. One victory from the two games will be enough for the Three Lions to punch their ticket to the 2018 World Cup.

Omitted from the squad is Jamie Vardy, who, according to Sky Sports News, is nursing a hip injury. "He needs an injection and it will rule him out of our matches," Southgate said, per BBC Sport. "He has not been training and he has been playing with lots of pain. It's not ideal from our point of view. We have a very high level of injuries but we have still got some good quality in that squad."

Here's England's squad in full:

Goalkeepers: Jack Butland, Fraser Forster, Joe Hart, Jordan Pickford

Defenders: Ryan Bertrand, Gary Cahill, Aaron Cresswell, Phil Jones, Michael Keane, Harry Maguire, Chris Smalling, John Stones, Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier

Midfielders: Eric Dier, Fabian Delph, Jordan Henderson, Jesse Lingard, Jake Livermore, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

Forwards: Dele Alli, Jermain Defoe, Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterling, Daniel Sturridge