England team winger Phil Foden has “temporarily” left the “Three Lions” selection for the Euro to respond to a “family emergency”, a spokesperson for the English federation said on Wednesday.
The Manchester City player played all three matches in the first round as a starter and was expected to be in the starting eleven for the round of 16 scheduled for June 30 in Gelsenkirchen.
“Phil Foden has temporarily left the English base camp and returned to the United Kingdom for a family emergency,” said the FA spokesperson, without giving further details.
The English press links this departure to the expected birth of her third child. In April, the English striker and his partner Rebecca Cooke announced this upcoming happy event on Instagram.
During the 2022 World Cup, defender Ben White and striker Raheem Sterling also returned to England for personal reasons. Only the latter returned to Qatar before the end of the tournament.
Concerning Foden, the federation has given no indication of a possible date of return to Germany.
In the British press, the news has in any case generated suspense tinged with fear: will the Manchester City star be back at the Euro in time for his team’s round of 16? “Phil returned home for the birth of his baby, but he should be back in Germany in time to play the England match on Sunday evening,” writes the “Daily Mail”, which aims to be reassuring, but does not quote for the moment only an anonymous source.
