Bellingham to miss England's Euro qualifiers

Midfielder to miss matches against Malta, North Macedonia as he recovers from hamstring injury

LONDON:

England's Real Madrid bound midfielder Jude Bellingham will miss his country's Euro 2024 qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia as he recovers from a hamstring injury.

Instead of linking up with Gareth Southgate's squad, Bellingham will spend time at England's national football centre to rehabilitate the injury that ruled him out of Borussia Dortmund's final game of the season.

In the 19-year-old's absence, Dortmund gifted the Bundesliga title to Bayern Munich by drawing 2-2 against Mainz.

Bellingham, one of the stars of England's World Cup campaign last year, recently agreed to join the Spanish giants in a blockbuster deal that will be completed once he passes a medical.

Bellingham is not the only absentee from Southgate's 25-man group as Brighton defender Lewis Dunk also pulled out on Sunday.

"Lewis Dunk has withdrawn from the England squad due to injury, while Jude Bellingham will also play no part in this month's qualifiers," an FA statement said.

The Three Lions squad started to report to St George's Park on Sunday.

West Ham's Declan Rice and Manchester City's Jack Grealish, John Stones, Phil Foden, Kyle Walker and Kalvin Phillips are due to arrive in the coming days following their successes in Europe.

City completed the treble by beating Inter Milan in the Champions League final on Saturday, while West Ham won their first major trophy for 43 years when they defeated Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League final last Wednesday.

England face Malta in Ta' Qali on June 16 before hosting North Macedonia at Old Trafford in Manchester on June 19.

Southgate's team opened their Euro qualifying campaign with wins against Italy and Ukraine in March.