When it comes to World Cup year, England fans have a mixture of excitement for the best tournament in world football and pessimism for what the Three Lions have become.Sure, England are still one of the heavyweight nations compared to the vast majority, but they seem to come up short in embarrassing ways in major tournaments, especially during the past decade.Exits to Iceland in Euro 2016 and failure to get out of a group ahead of Costa Rica at the 2014 World Cup have left England fans demoralised, but the 2018 World Cup in Russia presents another opportunity for redemption.Gareth Southgate has a nice young squad with the likes of Dele Alli, Harry Kane, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Marcus Rashford and Raheem Sterling all under the age of 25.However, it seems as though Bayern Leverkusen wonderkid Leon Bailey might be eligible for England, too.Southgate named his England squad for the upcoming friendlies with Holland and Italy on Thursday and the 20-year-old was not included.However, Southgate did reveal that they are working on securing the Jamaican-born forward."Until a few months ago no indication he was eligible for England. Process is ongoing and will monitor more closely," Southgate told Ian Dennis.

Bailey has turned down the chance to play for his native Jamaica and his father, Craig Butler, says he's "looking at his options".

Butler told the Sun: “I will be speaking to Dan Ashworth at the FA next week, but now it is a definite no as far as playing for Jamaica is concerned.

Speaking to Bild earlier this year, Bailey refused to pledge his international future to Jamaica: “It's been like that for years, but my opinion hasn’t changed and people have to accept that,” the attacker, who has nine goals and seven assists to his name this term, told Bild.

“Which country I play for is still open.”

Bailey's surprise eligibility is supposed to stem from having grandparents with British passports and England have a history of prizing valuable assets away from Jamaica with John Barnes and Sterling - who is a close friend of Bailey's - notable players.

Still, the fact that Southgate has acknowledged Bailey's availability - who has 11 goals and five assists in 25 games this season - surely means he qualifies for the Three Lions.