Doha — England striker Raheem Sterling was ruled out of Sunday's World Cup round of 16 match against Senegal due to unspecified family reasons.
"Raheem Sterling is not available for selection for the Three Lions tonight (Sunday) as he is dealing with a family matter," the England team's official twitter account posted.
The Chelsea forward played in England's first two group stage games, scoring in the opening 6-2 win over Iran, but did not start the third match against Wales.
Sterling has been a regular starter for England under manager Gareth Southgate, featuring in the last World Cup in Russia in 2018 and the run to the final of the Euro 2020 tournament.
Southgate said that he had spoken at length with Sterling earlier in the day.
"He is dealing with a family matter. I had quite a bit of time with him this morning but I have had to pass that on to other people to help him with that."
Asked if Sterling would return to the squad should England progress in the competition, the England manager said: "He will go and deal with that matter and we will have to take it from there."
Captain Harry Kane will be flanked by Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden against Senegal.
AFP