James Maddison (25), Callum Wilson (30) and Conor Gallagher (22) have all made England's squad for Qatar, while Ivan Toney (26), Tammy Abraham (25), James Ward-Prowse (28) and Fikayo Tomori (24) all miss out.
Rumours had been circulating all morning as to whether Leicester midfielder Maddison would make the cut, with many clamouring for his inclusion.
Similarly, many questions were surrounding the spare forward spots with the likes of Wilson, Abraham, Toney, Rashford and Calvert-Lewin all vying for position up front with captain Harry Kane (29).
The Leicester and Newcastle men are the standout inclusions in the squad - as well as Chelsea's Conor Gallagher, who gets in ahead of the likes of club-mate Ruben Loftus-Cheek (26) and Southampton's James Ward-Prowse, the latter suffering heartbreak yet again after narrowly missing out on England's Euro 2020 squad.
Other players who may feel somewhat aggrieved are AC Milan's title-winning defender Fikayo Tomori (24) and Everton's James Tarkowski (29) - both of whom have been in solid form this season. Tomori may have lost his chance after some disappointing performances in front of English fans in the Champions League, while Tarkowski's Everton centre-back partner Conor Coady (29) does make the final list.
Jarrod Bowen (25), Jadon Sancho (22) and Marc Guehi (22) are other big names that miss out.
Arsenal's Ben White (25) is included after helping guide the Gunners to the top of the Premier League, while Southgate has taken a punt on the fitness of Kalvin Phillips (26) and the form of Harry Maguire (29) - both stalwarts of previous Three Lions squads under the coach but struggling for minutes this season.
On the inclusion of Maddison, Southgate said he had "earned the right".
"He is playing really well. He is a good player, we've always said he's a good player. He's earned the right.
"We think he can give us something slightly different to the attacking players that we've got."
"I did speak to James because there was a lot of speculation that he wouldn't be with us. We'd decided a couple of weeks ago that he would, but we weren't going to tell him then."
On the inclusion of Wilson over Abraham, the England manager claimed that the Roma forward had hit a poor run of form at a bad time:
"Tammy’s had a poor run of scoring form at the wrong time, really, and it's not a case of that we are three or four weeks away from a finals and the start of the first match."
On Maguire's inclusion, Southgate suggested the struggling Manchester United man is still "one of England's best centre-backs".
"I think we know within the squad that we have a lot of players that have been to tournaments and performed at the level and know what is required.
"We have other players who are playing well and in form at this moment, and we have to balance that when we are picking our team."
England kick off their World Cup campaign against Iran on November 21st before facing the USA on November 25th. Their final Group B game will be the huge clash against Wales on the 29th.
England's World Cup squad in full:
Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Newcastle), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal).
Defenders: Kieran Trippier (Newcastle), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Kyle Walker (Man City), Ben White (Arsenal), Harry Maguire (Man Utd), John Stones (Man City), Eric Dier (Tottenham), Conor Coady (Everton, on loan from Wolves), Luke Shaw (Man Utd).
Midfielders: Declan Rice (West Ham), Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Kalvin Phillips (Man City), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Mason Mount (Chelsea).
Forwards: Harry Kane (Tottenham), Callum Wilson (Newcastle), Marcus Rashford (Man Utd), Raheem Sterling (Chelsea), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Phil Foden (Man City), Jack Grealish (Man City), James Maddison (Leicester City).
