England and Arsenal star Ben White has left the Three Lions’ World Cup camp early due to personal reasons and is not expected to return to Qatar before the end of the tournament.
White hadn’t featured in any of England’s matches so far, with the Arsenal star being an unused sub in the first two Group B matches and missed Tuesday’s 3-0 win against Wales through illness.
This World Cup was the 25-year-old’s first and was selected by Gareth Southgate due to his impressive start to the season with Arsenal.
Although the defender was not expected to play a lot throughout the rest of the tournament, the experience as a whole would have been a valuable one for White who is expected to be part of future England camps at major tournaments.
The Football Association released a statement to confirm the news about White on Wednesday, which read via the Daily Mail: ‘Ben White has left England’s training base in Al Wakrah and returned home for personal reasons.
‘The Arsenal defender is not expected to return to the squad for the remainder of the tournament.
‘We ask that the player’s privacy is respected at this moment in time.’
The reasons for White’s early departure were left unexplained and is expected to return to action when Arsenal play West Ham on Boxing Day.