Wayne Rooney retires from England duty after rejecting recall from Southgate

Wayne Rooney admitted that not playing in a successful England side would always be “one of my very few regrets”, after he declined an invitation from Gareth Southgate to return to the international set-up and decided instead to bow out after 119 caps and a record 53 goals for his country.

Rooney’s decision to announce his international retirement followed a telephone call from Southgate asking if the Everton striker, with two goals in as many Premier League fixtures since returning to his first club from Manchester United, would return to the squad and effectively fill the void left by Adam Lallana being injured.

Southgate had previously removed Rooney after the striker lost his place at Old Trafford and the likelihood is that there was not going to be a starting place if he had accepted the invitation. Rooney turns 32 in October and, acutely aware that Everton would rather he concentrated on his club career, made the “really tough decision” he had always said would never be an option, namely issuing a statement to announce he was making himself unavailable for England.

That leaves Rooney out of the equation when it comes to the World Cup next summer and, for all his records and achievements in the England set-up, he accepted he could not be fully satisfied given the team’s tournament performances since he made his debut as a 17-year-old in February 2003.

“It was great that Gareth Southgate called me this week to tell me he wanted me back in the England squad for the upcoming matches,” Rooney said.

“I really appreciated that. However, having already thought long and hard, I told Gareth that I had now decided to retire for good from international football.

“It is a really tough decision and one I have discussed with my family, my manager at Everton and those closest to me. Playing for England has always been special to me. Every time I was selected as a player or captain was a real privilege and I thank everyone who helped me. But I believe now is the time to bow out.

“Leaving Manchester United was a tough call but I know I made the right decision in coming home to Everton. Now I want to focus all my energies on helping them be successful.

“I will always remain a passionate England fan. One of my very few regrets is not to have been part of a successful England tournament side. Hopefully the exciting players Gareth is bringing through can take that ambition further and I hope everyone will get behind the team. One day the dream will come true and I look forward to being there as a fan – or in any capacity.”

The downside for Rooney is that it probably never got any better for him than Euro 2004 when Sven-Goran Eriksson described him as the “white Pelé” and the teenager scored four times before sustaining a broken metatarsal in the quarter-final against Portugal. Since then, he has played in three World Cups and two further European Championship tournaments, without ever rediscovering that form, but his England career still gives him grounds to be thought of as one of his country’s authentic greats.

Rooney replaced Sir Bobby Charlton as England’s leading all-time scorer when his 50th goal arrived against Switzerland in September 2015 and he took over from David Beckham as the most capped outfield player a year later.

His intention at that stage was to retire after the next World Cup but Southgate had gradually eased him out after taking over from Sam Allardyce as manager and, even if Rooney had returned to the squad for the next two World Cup qualifiers against Malta and Slovakia, it is unlikely he would have been selected ahead of Harry Kane, the team’s principal striker, or Dele Alli in the No10 role. Rooney might still have backed himself to reach Peter Shilton’s record 125‑cap haul but it turns out his appearance against Scotland last November, captaining the side to a 3-0 win at Wembley, was his last for his country.

England are leading their World Cup qualifying group after six games and Southgate will name his squad on Thursday for the trip to Malta on Friday week, followed by the visit of Slovakia, who are second in Group F, to Wembley three days later. Nathaniel Chalobah, Watford’s summer signing from Chelsea, is one of the players in Southgate’s thinking and the manager is due to hold a press conference at St George’s Park.